STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2158

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2726

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2726 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) to be driven on a street if the ATV is being used as farm equipment, if the operator holds a current category (3) license or a commercial driver's license, and if the operator and passengers wear safety helmets secured with a chin strap.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Hamakua County Farm Bureau; Hawaii's Agricultural Partnerships; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation, Honolulu Police Department, and Maui Police Department.

Your Committee finds that the regulation of ATVs is a matter of public safety.  According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 135,100 ATV-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms nationwide in 2008.  In addition, there were 9,633 reported deaths between 1982 and 2008, with fourteen of those deaths occurring in Hawaii.  Your Committee believes that the use of ATVs is particularly dangerous for minors.

     Your Committee was informed in testimony that a new type of agricultural equipment being used is the utility-terrain vehicle.  Many farms and ranches are split up by public roads.  Utility-terrain vehicles make it possible for farmers and ranchers to drive from one part of the farm or ranch to another part, which is either across the road or within a mile or two.  Using the same piece of equipment in the field to travel on a street from one part of the farm or ranch to another is a matter of practicality and convenience to farmers and ranchers.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Applying this measure to "utility-terrain vehicles" in addition to ATVs and defining the term "utility-terrain vehicle"; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2726, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2726, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair