Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 843 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to create two new traffic offenses of promoting interference with official traffic-control signals in the first and second degrees.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Honolulu Police Department, and Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney. Testimony in opposition was received from the Public Defender.

The intent of this measure is to protect the functioning of official traffic control devices, such as traffic control signal systems. Emergency vehicles are equipped with traffic signal preemption systems ("mobile infrared transmitters") to override the traffic control signal to let the vehicle proceed through the intersection on a green light while signaling red for the cross street.

Your Committee finds that private individuals have gained access to mobile infrared transmitters and are using them for their own purposes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style, and by adding language inadvertently omitted in the printing of the measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 843, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 843, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.