STAND. COM. REP. NO. 341

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1334

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1334 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OPERATING A VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATED,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow law enforcement officers to seize and tow a motor vehicle if the operator is arrested or cited for various alcohol-related traffic offenses.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Honolulu Police Department, County of Kauai Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, State Highway Safety Council, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii.

     Your Committees find that this measure is a strong deterrent to drivers who drive while intoxicated.  Towing and impoundment are penalties generically referred to as vehicle sanctions.  According to testimony, these types of sanctions are favored by many impaired driving researchers, safety organizations, and the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration.  The threat of surrendering a vehicle, even temporarily, can deter people from driving while intoxicated.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting references to the term "seizure" since police officers do not actually seize a vehicle;

     (2)  Making the towing and storage of the vehicle at the owner's expense; and

     (3)  Adding an exemption for community caretaking, which is defined as a situation in which a police officer uses the vehicle for a consensual police-citizen encounter that is unrelated to the investigation or detection of any criminal activity.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1334, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1334, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair