STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1319

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 706

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. 706, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAY SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require all skateboard users under the age of sixteen to wear a helmet while operating a skateboard.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, AAA Hawaii, Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that skateboarding without a helmet significantly increases the probability of sustaining a serious injury. Head trauma is the most common injury caused by skateboarding accidents and often has notable lasting consequences, such as traumatic brain injuries. Evidence demonstrates that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of a head injury by up to eighty-five percent. Therefore, this measure improves public safety and prioritizes health by requiring young skateboarders to wear helmets.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of January 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

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. 706, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 706, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair