Requires mopeds to be inspected annually, to display a certificate of inspection, and to be operated only with an exhaust system that meets original manufacturer specifications.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Section 286-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-21 Vehicles and mopeds without required equipment or in unsafe condition. No person shall drive or cause to move on any highway any motor vehicle, moped, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, or any combination thereof, unless the equipment thereon is in good working order and adjustment as required in this part [so as not to] or does not endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the highway."

SECTION 2. Section 286-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-22 Inspection by officers of the police department. (a) The chief of police or any police officer of any county may, at any time when the chief of police or police officer has reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle or moped is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, require the owner or driver of the vehicle to submit the vehicle to an inspection or make the necessary corrections or repairs.

(b) If the vehicle or moped is found to be in an unsafe condition or if any required part or equipment is not present or if any required part or equipment is present but not in proper repair, the officer shall issue a citation to the owner or driver stating the reasons that the vehicle or moped is deemed unsafe or not equipped as required and shall require that a new certificate of inspection as provided in section 286-26 be obtained within five days or that the defect be cured.

(c) If upon inspection, the chief of police or any police officer determines that any vehicle or moped is in such unsafe condition as to constitute a menace to the public or is not equipped as required and cannot reasonably be restored to a safe condition or equipped as required in this part, the chief of police or police officer shall remove the sticker which signifies the certificate of inspection and, as to vehicles, inform the director of finance who shall forthwith suspend the registration of the vehicle and give notice of the suspension to its owner. Whenever the director of finance has suspended the registration of any vehicle under this part, the owner of the vehicle shall immediately surrender and forward to the director of finance the certificate of registration and the license plates last issued upon registration of the vehicle for the current year.

(d) Any person aggrieved by this section shall have the right to a hearing before a district judge of the circuit in which the person is cited within five days. The judge shall determine whether the chief of police or any police officer reasonably performed the chief of police's or police officer's duties hereunder and shall make any appropriate order."

SECTION 3. Section 286-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) No person shall operate any vehicle or moped after receiving a citation with reference thereto as provided in section 286-22(b), except that if the driver is authorized to do so by the police officer, the driver may return the vehicle or moped to the driver's residence or place of business or the residence or place of business of the owner of the vehicle[,] or moped, or to an automotive repair shop, if within a distance of twenty miles, until a certificate of inspection is obtained or the necessary corrections or repairs are made."

SECTION 4. Section 286-24, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-24 [Registered owner's responsibility; registration plates as prima facie evidence as to the fault of the registered owner.] Responsibility of owner or operator for violation. In any proceeding for violation of this part, the registered owner of a vehicle or the operator of a moped shall be deemed responsible for the [unsafe condition] operation of the vehicle[.] or moped in an unsafe condition or while

equipped other than as required."

SECTION 5. Section 286-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-25 Operation of a vehicle or moped without a certificate of inspection. Whoever operates, permits the operation of, causes to be operated, or parks any vehicle or moped on a public highway without a current official certificate of inspection, issued under section 286-26, shall be fined not more than $100."

SECTION 6. Section 286-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsections (b) and (c) to read:

"(b) All other vehicles, including motorcycles, mopeds, trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, and antique motor vehicles as defined in section 249-1, except those in subsections (c) and (d), shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) every twelve months; provided that any vehicle to which this subsection applies shall not require inspection within two years of the date on which the vehicle was first sold.

(c) Any vehicle or moped that has been involved in an accident shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) before it is operated again if:

2. By amending subsection (e) to read:

"(e) Upon application for a certificate of inspection to be issued for a vehicle, an inspection as prescribed by the director under subsection (g) shall be conducted on the vehicle[,] or moped, and if the vehicle or moped is found to be in a safe operating condition, a certificate of inspection shall be issued upon payment of a fee to be determined by the director. The certificate for a vehicle shall state the effective date, the termination date, the name of the issuing insurance carrier, and the policy number of the motor vehicle insurance identification card for the inspected motor vehicle as specified by section 431:10C-107 or state the information contained in the proof of insurance card as specified by section 431:10G-106. A sticker, authorized by the director, shall be affixed to the vehicle at the time a certificate of inspection is issued. An inspection sticker which has been lost, stolen, or destroyed shall be replaced without reinspection by the inspection station that issued the original inspection sticker upon presentation of the [vehicle's] current certificate of inspection[;] for the vehicle or moped; provided that the current certificate of inspection and inspection sticker shall not have expired at the time the replacement is requested. The director shall adopt rules to determine the fee for replacement of lost, stolen, or destroyed inspection stickers."

3. By amending subsection (g) to read:

"(g) The director of transportation shall adopt necessary rules for the administration of inspections and the issuance of certificates of inspection[.]; provided that the rules regarding inspection of mopeds shall be limited to requiring mopeds to be operated only with an exhaust system that meets original manufacturer specifications."

SECTION 7. Section 286-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-30 False certificates. Any person who makes, issues, or knowingly uses any imitation or counterfeit of an official certificate of inspection, or any person who displays or causes or permits to be displayed upon any vehicle or moped any certificate of inspection knowing the same to be issued for another vehicle or issued without an inspection having been made or issued without authority as provided herein shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both."

SECTION 8. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.