STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2285

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2585

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation and Energy, to which was referred S.B. No. 2585 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATEWIDE TRAFFIC CODE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify when pedestrians may enter a crosswalk equipped with a countdown timer.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that section 291C-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to pedestrian-control signals, was last amended in 1981.  This section needs to be updated to include countdown timers and to clarify when a pedestrian is allowed to cross when the countdown timer is operating.  Countdown timers show pedestrians how many seconds are left to cross the street before the pedestrian signal changes from a flashing "Don't Walk" to a steady "Don't Walk" or upraised palm indication.

     This measure clarifies that if a pedestrian-control signal is equipped with a countdown timer, any pedestrian who has partially completed the pedestrian's crossing while the countdown timer is operating shall complete the crossing to a sidewalk or safety island while the countdown timer is operating.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Energy that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2585, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2585, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair