STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3149

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1938

H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Energy, to which was referred H.B. No. 1938, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL BUSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the maximum fine for passing or overtaking a school bus on state highways when the bus is stopped and its visual signals are on, from $500 to $1,000.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Hawaii Transportation Association, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that students who utilize the school bus as their primary means of transportation can face safety risks when they disembark the bus and need to cross the street. Drivers who are unaware of the disembarking students could attempt to pass the bus just as students are crossing the street, potentially seriously injuring unsuspecting students. In 2017, Hawaii school bus drivers collectively counted over six hundred illegal passes in a single day of service. Increased penalties for illegally passing a bus is one way to improve awareness and compliance.

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 H.B. No. 1938, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair