STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3770

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1651

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1651, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VEHICLE INSPECTIONS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Codify certain certification, renewal, and violation processes of vehicle inspectors who conduct vehicle safety inspections under the Department of Transportation; and

(2) Repeal section 286-85, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which requires reconstructed vehicles to obtain a special inspection and certification.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, 808 Street Rods, HI X Rydaz, and eighty-seven individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Honolulu Police Department and three individuals. Your Committees received comments from one individual.

Your Committees find that the intent of section 286-85, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is to ensure that modifications to motor vehicles do not result in a significant degradation in safety. However, your Committees also find that reconstructed vehicle inspectors are not engineers and may lack the expertise necessary to make an accurate judgment of the quality of the modifications. Your Committees further find that crash data from the Department of Transportation do not indicate that reconstructed vehicles are a safety problem on Hawaii roads. Moreover, the reconstructed vehicle inspection program is required only on Oahu, not the neighbor islands.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1651, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair