STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1344

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 229

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 Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 229, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a statewide speed restriction for motor vehicles with three or more axles or motor vehicles weighing more than ten thousand pounds, except under certain circumstances, in a county with a population of five hundred thousand or more;

(2) Authorize a county with a population of less than five hundred thousand to adopt an ordinance that establishes a speed restriction for motor vehicles with three or more axles or motor vehicles weighing more than ten thousand pounds; and

(3) Establish penalties.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees find that a 2024 Department of Transportation behavioral study found that nearly twenty-five percent of respondents admitted to speeding by more than twenty miles per hour over the maximum posted speed limit. Excessive speeding is especially dangerous for large vehicles, which take longer to decelerate and stop due to their mass and height. Those factors also make large vehicles more likely to be involved in accidents resulting in fatalities. By increasing regulations on certain large motor vehicles, this measure will improve roadway safety for all roadway users.

Your Committees note that the intent of this measure is to help mitigate the potential injuries and fatalities that can occur as a result of a collision with a large vehicle. Your Committees believe that further clarification is needed for large motor vehicle regulations to be implemented effectively. Therefore, this measure needs to be amended to address this issue.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting language that:

(1) Restricts motor vehicles that tow a motor vehicle or trailer, as defined in section 286-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, from the far left lane on roads with three or more lanes going the same direction;

(2) Exempts motor vehicles used for public transit, school buses, and authorized emergency vehicles from driving on the far left on roadways having three or more lanes moving in the same direction;

(3) Specifies penalties for restricted motor vehicles that drive in the far left lane on roads with three or more lanes moving in the same direction; and

(4) Specifies that the restrictions shall apply only to a county with a population of five hundred thousand or more.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 229, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 229, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair