HB1231 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has among the highest rates of traffic related fatalities. The implementation of photo red light imaging detector systems at intersections with the most dangerous and highest risk transit infrastructure, as well as photo speed detector systems in school zones with the most dangerous and high-risk transit infrastructure, can help prevent drivers from running red lights, and slow speeders in key areas, to help reduce fatalities and injuries.

The legislature further finds that it should be a priority to ensure dedicated funding necessary to support accelerating improvements in the most dangerous transit corridors serving state schools, to reduce student deaths and injuries, which may not otherwise be a priority for federal funding or other agencies.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Prohibit the use of facial recognition software in the operation of any photo red light imaging detector system;

(2) Authorize the state highway safety and modernization council to recommend dangerous intersections;

(3) Authorize the safe routes to schools advisory committee to recommend dangerous school zones;

(4) Increase vehicle weight taxes for the safe routes to school program special fund;

(5) Clarify the summons and citations processes for the automated speed enforcement systems program; and

(6) Appropriate funds.

SECTION 2. Chapter 291J, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§291J- Facial recognition software; prohibited. (a) The State or any county shall not use any facial recognition software with any photo red light imaging detector system, automated speed enforcement system, or other camera monitoring an outdoor public space, operated pursuant to this chapter.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "facial recognition software" means any type of technology that identifies or verifies the identity of an individual captured in images or video."

SECTION 3. Section 249-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"§249-33 State vehicle weight tax, exemptions. (a) All vehicles and motor vehicles in the State as defined in section 249-1, including antique motor vehicles, except as otherwise provided in sections 249-4, 249-5.5, 249-6, and 249-6.5, in addition to all other fees and taxes levied by this chapter, shall be subject to an annual state vehicle weight tax. The tax shall be levied by the county director of finance at the rate of 1.75 cents a pound according to the net weight of each vehicle as the "net weight" is defined in section 249-1 up to and including four thousand pounds net weight; vehicles over four thousand pounds and up to and including seven thousand pounds net weight shall be taxed at the rate of [~~2.00~~] 3.00 cents a pound; vehicles over seven thousand pounds and up to and including ten thousand pounds net weight shall be taxed at the rate of [~~2.25~~] 3.75 cents a pound; vehicles over ten thousand pounds net weight shall be taxed at a flat rate of $300.; provided that for each vehicle taxed:

(1) One cent a pound for vehicles over four thousand pounds and up to and including seven thousand pounds net weight; and

(2) 1.5 cents a pound for vehicles over seven thousand pounds net weight,

shall be deposited into the safe routes to school program special fund."

SECTION 4. Section 291C-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§291C-4 Safe routes to school program special fund; establishment. There is established in the state treasury the safe routes to school program special fund, into which shall be deposited:

(1) Assessments collected for speeding in a school zone, pursuant to section 291C-104; [~~and~~]

(2) Safe routes to school program surcharges collected in accordance with sections 291-16 and 291C-5[.]; and

(3) Taxes collected pursuant to section 249-33."

SECTION 5. Section 291L-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§291L-2[]] Automated speed enforcement systems program; established. (a) There shall be established the automated speed enforcement systems program, which shall be implemented by the State to enforce the speed restriction laws of the State. The automated speed enforcement [~~system~~] systems program shall be limited to only those locations where a photo red light imaging detector system has been implemented pursuant to chapter 291J.

(b) Automated speed enforcement systems may be implemented along a road or highway by the State or counties within two hundred feet of a school zone identified by the safe routes to school advisory committee for the promotion of public health, safety, and welfare."

SECTION 6. Section 291L-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§291L-5[]] Summons or citation. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and except as otherwise provided in this chapter, beginning January 1, 2025, whenever any motor vehicle is determined, by means of an automated speed enforcement system, to have exceeded the posted maximum speed limit by not less than [~~five~~] miles per hour in violation of section 291C-108, the State's or county's third-party contractor shall cause a summons or citation, as described in this section, to be sent by first-class mail[~~, that is postmarked within ten calendar days after the date of the incident,~~] to the registered owner of the motor vehicle [~~at the~~]. The summons or citation shall be mailed to the registered owner's address on record at the vehicle licensing division[.] and submitted to the post office within ten calendar days after the date of the incident. The State, the county, or the State's or county's third-party contractor shall implement a process to record the date on which the summons or citation was submitted to the post office, and the record shall be prima facie evidence of the date the summons or citation was submitted to the post office. If the end of the ten-calendar-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. The registered owner shall be determined by the identification of the motor vehicle license plate.

(b) The form and content of the summons or citation shall be adopted or prescribed by the administrative judge of the district courts and printed on a form commensurate with the form of other summonses or citations used in modern methods of arrest that are designed to include all necessary information to make the summons or citation valid within the laws of the State; provided that any summons or citation issued pursuant to the automated speed enforcement systems program shall contain a clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the motor vehicle license plate, and speed units measured by the speed reader that shall be used as evidence of the violation.

(c) Every summons or citation shall be consecutively numbered and each copy thereof shall bear the number of its respective original.

(d) Before mailing the summons or citation for a traffic infraction pursuant to subsection (a), the applicable county police department shall review and verify the validity of the clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the license plate of the motor vehicle required under this section.

(e) Upon receipt of the summons or citation, the registered owner shall respond as provided for in section 291D‑6. A record of the mailing of the summons or citation prepared in the ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of notification.

(f) Procedures regarding answering a notice, court actions, and court hearings shall be pursuant to sections 291D‑6, 291D-7, 291D-8, and 291D-13; provided that it shall not be a defense to any citation issued pursuant to this chapter that another person was driving the defendant's motor vehicle at the time of incident, unless the motor vehicle was stolen as documented by a police report; provided further that any reference to the defendant's commission of the traffic infraction or similar language shall be interpreted to mean commission of the traffic infraction.

(g) Any summons or citations issued or convictions resulting from this chapter shall not be recorded on a person's traffic abstract and shall not be used for insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage."

SECTION 7. The state highway safety and modernization council shall recommend twenty-five dangerous intersections where the department of transportation may install photo red light imaging detector systems in addition to those currently operating, pursuant to chapter 291J; provided that signals shall be changed so pedestrians have not less than a four-second lead time to begin crossing the intersection prior to vehicles being permitted to proceed at each intersection where a photo red light imaging detector system is installed.

SECTION 8. (a) The safe routes to school advisory committee shall recommend twenty-five dangerous school zones in the State based on fatality, injury, and crash data since January 1, 2014, and any outreach and complaints from schools and the surrounding community.

(b) The department of transportation or county agencies may install additional automated speed enforcement systems pursuant to chapter 291L, at school zone locations that the safe routes to school advisory committee identifies as dangerous; provided that any enforcement system shall be positioned not more than two hundred feet from the school property in each school zone.

SECTION 9. There is appropriated out of the state highway fund the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 to be deposited into the automated speed enforcement systems program special fund established under section 291L-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 10. There is appropriated out of the automated speed enforcement systems program special fund the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 for the establishment and maintenance of the automated speed enforcement systems program.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of transportation for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 11. Notwithstanding any provision of this Act to the contrary, the appropriation authorized under this Act shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year for which the appropriation is made. Any unexpended and unencumbered balance of the appropriation made in this Act as of the close of business on June 30, 2029, shall lapse back to the credit of the state highway fund.

SECTION 12. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 13. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1231
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1