STAND. COM. REP. NO. 895

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 1090

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1090 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD PASSENGER RESTRAINTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the requirements for child passenger restraints in motor vehicles by:

(1) Requiring rear-facing child safety seats for children less than two years of age;

(2) Requiring rear-facing or forward-facing child safety seats for children at least two years of age but less than four years of age;

(3) Requiring the use of child safety seats or booster seats for certain children at least four years of age but less than seven years of age;

(4) Requiring the use of child safety seats or booster seats for certain children at least seven years of age but less than ten years of age;

(5) Repealing an exemption for when the number of persons in a vehicle exceeds the greater of the number of seat belt assemblies available or originally installed in the vehicle;

(6) Repealing language that prohibited failure to restrain a child in accordance with law from being considered contributory negligence, comparative negligence, or negligence per se; and

(7) Raising certain fines for violations.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Honolulu Police Department, Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, Safe Kids Hawaii at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children, and AAA Hawai‘i. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Association for Justice.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the increased fines for certain violations to unspecified amounts;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1090, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1090, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair