STAND. COM. REP. NO.  717-10

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2010

RE:   S.B. No. 2449

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2449 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRIVER LICENSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to make permanent the statutory requirements for provisional driver's licenses for persons who are at least 16 and less than 18 years of age, including, among other things, conditions under which:

     (1)  A provisional licensee may transport passengers under the age of 18;

     (2)  The provisional licensee must be accompanied in the vehicle by a licensed parent or guardian; and

     (3)  The provisional licensee may drive to and from a place of employment or school-authorized activity without being accompanied by a licensed parent or guardian.

     The Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving testified in support of this bill.

     Research, studies, and statistics show that young, novice drivers have an extremely high crash risk with factors such as inexperience and immaturity being major contributors, especially at night.  According to DOT, since Act 72, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005 (Act 72), more commonly referred to as Hawaii's Graduated Driver Licensing Law, went into effect requiring provisional driver's licenses for persons under the age of 18, the number of crashes involving 16 year olds decreased 27 percent with 66 fewer crashes occurring.  For 17 year olds, the number of crashes decreased 14 percent with 52 fewer crashes being recorded.  Furthermore, restrictions imposed for driving between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. have resulted in 19 fewer crashes at night involving 16 and 17 year olds each year.  Most importantly, since the enactment of the provisional licensing statutes, there has been a 60 percent reduction in the number of deaths among teens as a result of traffic collisions.

     Unfortunately, Act 72 is currently scheduled to sunset on January 9, 2011.  This sunset date was placed in Act 72 to give DOT and DOH adequate time to determine the effectiveness of this law through the collection, compilation, and analyses of traffic and accident data.  Your Committee finds that the statistics presented by both DOT and DOH are compelling and making the provisions of Act 72 permanent will continue to increase highway safety and save lives.

     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 S.B. No. 2449 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

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

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair