STAND. COM. REP. NO. 712
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 88
H.D. 2
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 88, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CELLULAR PHONES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to ban the use of handheld cellular phones while driving a vehicle to promote safety to drivers and pedestrians, increase the driver's attention to the driver's surroundings, and afford the driver with faster reaction time in case emergency action is necessary.
The Hawaii Association of Realtors and Sprint Communications opposed this bill. The Honolulu City and County's Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless provided comments on this measure.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Banning the use of mobile telephones unless they are equipped with a hands-free accessory;
(2) Defining "hands-free accessory" and removing other definitions;
(3) Providing that reporting a medical or safety emergency is an affirmative defense;
(4) Establishing a fine of not more than $200, to be suspended for violators who acquire a hands-free accessory;
(5) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2020; and
(6) Moving the proposed law to a new section, and making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 88, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 88, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE, Chair |
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