Report Title:

Highway Safety; Traffic Accident Investigation

Description:

Requires the police department of each county to identify roadways most critical to free movement and commerce and establish protocols necessary to coordinate major accident investigations, including immediately notifying the medical examiner in fatal accident cases.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1190
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to traffic accident investigation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that traffic accident management is of utmost public importance, especially when a fatality occurs.  Although the evidence collected at traffic accident scenes may be crucial to determining the cause of the accident, these accident investigations proceed at a slower rate in Hawaii than in comparable metropolitan areas in the United States.  The average length of time for lane closures in Hawaii ranges from two to four hours for major traffic accidents to over eight hours when a fatality occurs.

     The legislature also finds that these prolonged closures of traffic lanes adversely affect the public and our economy because students cannot reach school and school activities or return home afterwards; employees cannot reach their place of work or attend meetings at remote locations; and businesses cannot receive or deliver products necessary to conduct business.  These traffic jams also bode ill for the economy because tourists cannot reach their destinations and spend money and may leave Hawaii feeling that they have not been on vacation at all.  Moreover, these prolonged investigative delays may result in secondary accidents that cause further delays.

     The purpose of this Act is to expedite the investigation of fatal traffic accidents.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  The police department of each county shall:

     (1)  Identify the roadways, or class of roadways, that are most critical to the free movement of persons and commerce; and

     (2)  Establish protocols necessary to coordinate major accident investigations with law enforcement and other authorities having jurisdiction over the location of a major accident, including immediately notifying the medical examiner in the case of fatal traffic accidents so that the medical examiner or coroner can conduct the appropriate accident scene investigation simultaneously with the police, to the extent practical.

     (b)  Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict the police department's authority to enforce any of the powers otherwise granted to it by law.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.

INTRODUCED BY:

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