THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3012
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to motor vehicle safety inspections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that across the country, only fifteen states require safety inspections every year. Mechanical failures are the cause of only three per cent of accidents nationwide, and a study on vehicle inspections in New Jersey found that "vehicle safety inspections do not represent an efficient use of government funds, and do not appear to have any significantly mitigating effect on the role of car failure in traffic accidents". Additionally, Hawaii's legislative reference bureau studied the issue in 1995 and concluded that "there is no conclusive evidence to indicate that the State's periodic motor vehicle inspection program either is or is not achieving its desired outcome". Existing vehicle inspection laws are a burden in terms of time and cost, especially on low-income families who must pay for car inspections every year.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to lengthen the time period in which certain vehicles must have a safety inspection.

SECTION 2. Section 286-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) All other vehicles, including [motorcycles,] mopeds, trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, and antique motor vehicles as defined in section 249-1, except those in subsections (c) and (d), shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) every [twelve] twenty-four months; provided that any vehicle to which this subsection applies, except a moped, shall not require inspection within [two] three years of the date on which the vehicle was first sold[.]; provided further that any motorcycle shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) every three years."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Highway Safety; Motor Vehicle Inspections

Description:

Lengthens the time period in which certain vehicles must have a safety inspection.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.