STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1347
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 1231
H.D. 1
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 1231, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRAFFIC SAFETY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Authorize the State to prioritize the installation of photo red light imaging detector systems in school zones if the State establishes a photo red light imaging detector system;
(2) Require a certain percentage of fines collected for disregarding a steady red signal pursuant to a photo red light imaging detector system installed in a school zone to be deposited into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund, capped at an unspecified amount each year; and
(3) Require the Department of Transportation to consult with the Department of Education in determining which school zones to install a photo red light imaging system.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, Ulupono Initiative, Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute, Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, and nine individuals.
Your Committee
received comments on this measure from the
Department of Budget and Finance and the Judiciary.
Your Committee finds that running red lights and disregarding road intersection signals presents a significant threat to local communities across the State. Although current transportation planning has provided important safe routes to school projects, many schools remain less accessible for students who walk, bike, or roll to school. Your Committee believes that more methods are needed to enhance the safety of drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians in school zones. Therefore, this measure will expand the photo red light imaging detector systems program, increase funding for the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund, and streamline the Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program and Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program.
Your Committee notes concerns raised in testimony by the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice regarding privacy and due process for the operation of photo red light imaging detector systems.
Your Committee further notes that this measure is intended to increase protections for students in school zones. Your Committee finds that S.B. No. 1667, S.D. 1 (2025), a measure previously passed by the Senate, provides preferable language regarding the placement of photo red light imaging detector systems and automated speed enforcement systems.
Your Committee additionally notes the fiscal concerns raised in testimony regarding the allocation of fines to be deposited into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund. Your Committee notes the concerns raised by the Department of the Attorney General regarding the need for adequate resources to implement the Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program.
Accordingly,
your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting
language that would have deposited
a percentage of fines collected for a traffic control signal violation within a
school zone into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund;
(2) Adding
language that prohibits the use of facial recognition software in any photo red
light imaging detector system, automated speed enforcement system, or other
camera monitoring an outdoor public space;
(3) Adding
language to increase the vehicular weight tax for vehicles over four thousand
pounds and vehicles over seven thousand pounds and designating the percent
increase to be deposited into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund;
(4) Deleting
language that would have authorized the State to prioritize the installation of
photo red light imaging detector systems in school zones;
(5) Deleting
language that would have required the Department of Transportation to consult
with the Department of Education to determine which school zones to install a
photo red light imaging detector system;
(6) Inserting
language that authorizes automated speed enforcement systems to 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;
(7) Replacing the threshold speed by which to have exceeded the posted maximum speed limit to cause a summons or citation from five miles per hour to an unspecified speed;
(8) Specifying that 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 under the Automated Speed Enforcement System Program 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;
(9) Adding language to specify that any summons or citations issued or convictions under the Automated Speed Enforcement System Program 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;
(10) Inserting language that authorizes the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council to recommend twenty‑five dangerous intersections for photo red light imaging detector systems;
(12) Inserting language that appropriates funds out of the State Highway Fund for deposit into and out of the Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program Special Fund;
(13) Making conforming amendments;
(14) Inserting legislative findings; and
(15) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1231, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1231, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,
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________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair |
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