STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 250-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2374

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 2374 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHAPTER 291E, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to increase traffic safety. Among other things, this bill:

(1) Creates an offense of illegally operating a vehicle while under court order of revocation of privilege to operate a vehicle and makes the offense a class C felony;

(2) Creates a misdemeanor offense of illegally operating a vehicle while under court order of suspension of privilege to operate a vehicle; and

(3) Limits the scope of the current misdemeanor offense of operating a vehicle after license and privilege have been suspended or revoked for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant to administrative revocations or suspensions.

The Department of the Attorney General, Department of Transportation, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Honolulu Police Department (HPD), and Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii testified in support of this measure. The Office of the Public Defender commented on this measure.

Driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUII) has been and continues to be a problem on highways and roadways across the country. Although a large number of drivers convicted of DUII have had their licenses revoked or suspended, many of them continue to drive. In fact, a recent study revealed that 32 percent of suspended second-time DUII offenders and 61 percent of third-time DUII offenders received violations or crash citations during the period of license suspension. In 2003, HPD issued over 400 citations to individuals who had a suspended or revoked license due to a conviction for DUII. Your Committee finds that this measure is an attempt to remove habitual offenders from Hawaii's roadways and make them safer for all motorists.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that if a person with the status of a habitual operator of a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant who operates a vehicle while under court order of revocation of privilege to operate a vehicle, shall be sentenced to permanent revocation of privilege to operate a vehicle and to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of five years without the possibility of suspension of sentence or probation;

(2) Inserting language clarifying that a conviction and sentence under the new section of 291E, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), that creates the offense of illegal operation of a vehicle while under court order of revocation of privilege to operate a vehicle shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any conviction and sentence under section 291E-61.5, HRS, and that the sentences may be served concurrently or consecutively; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2374, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2374, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

		____________________________ JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair