THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	129
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

URGING STATEWIDE SUPPORT FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY LEGISLATION TO REDUCE MOTOR VEHICLE FATALITIES AND INJURIES.

WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation supports all efforts to reduce motor vehicle fatalities through legislation; and

WHEREAS, during the calendar years of 2013-2017, Hawaii tallied five hundred seventeen motor vehicle fatalities, which is unacceptable as these deaths were preventable if all roadway users followed Hawaii's laws; and

WHEREAS, a strong multifaceted approach using enforcement, education, and legislation is necessary to reduce the number of motor vehicle fatalities and injuries; and

WHEREAS, statewide support is needed for traffic safety measures that increase public safety, including measures that:

(1) Appropriate general funds to establish an in-state drug testing lab to test blood samples of persons involved in motor vehicle crashes for alcohol and drugs, as currently blood samples need to be sent out of the State, which results in unnecessary delays and costs;

(2) Allow county police departments to receive a portion of the fines for the citations they issue to be used for increased county enforcement efforts, equipment purchases, and training;

(3) Strengthen Hawaii's child passenger restraint law by extending the age requirement for children riding in a booster seat because child safety seats, when correctly installed and used, are extremely effective in saving children's lives, reducing the risk of death by as much as seventy-one percent for infants and fifty-four percent for toddlers;

(4) Provide stronger penalties for persons who violate Hawaii's universal seat belt law because research has found that seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injuries by forty-five percent and the risk of critical injuries by fifty percent;

(5) Establish a universal helmet law that requires all motorcycle, moped, and bicycle riders to wear a helmet while riding on public roadways to reduce a rider's chance of traumatic brain injury or paralysis after an accident;

(6) Prohibit persons from riding in the cargo area of a pickup truck to reduce preventable fatalities and injuries; and

(7) Establish a marijuana education program to help the public understand the perils of edible marijuana, especially the dangers of driving while impaired to prevent an increase in drug impaired driving fatalities; and

WHEREAS, full consideration and robust discussion on these issues and other traffic safety legislation in the current and future legislative sessions to address roadway safety are necessary so that all of Hawaii's residents and visitors arrive alive; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that this body urges statewide support of traffic safety legislation to reduce motor vehicle fatalities and injuries; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chief Justice, Attorney General, Director of Transportation, Director of Health, Director of Public Safety, mayors of each county, and Chief of Police of each county.

Report Title:

Traffic Safety; Legislation