STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1235

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 1667

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 1667, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Subject vehicles stopped on and blocking any marked crosswalk, with or without signs or curb markings, to a fine no greater than $500;

(2) Expand the penalties for reckless driving of a vehicle or riding of animals;

(3) Require a person to surrender their driver's license to a law enforcement officer if they continue to refuse to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test;

(4) Increase the duration of the suspension of a license when a person is arrested for driving under the influence and refuses to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test;

(5) Authorize automated speed enforcement systems by the State or county along a road or highway within two hundred feet of a school zone identified by the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee;

(6) Establish requirements for the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council;

(7) Authorize the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council to select potential areas for the Department of Transportation to install an additional twenty-five photo red light imaging detector systems;

(8) Require the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee to identify twenty-five of the most dangerous school zones and authorize the Department of Transportation or county agencies to install additional automated speed enforcement systems at those locations; and

(9) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement; Department of Transportation; Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii Chapter; Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; Hawaiʻi Bicycling League; Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committee finds that dangerous driving behaviors, including reckless speeding, impaired driving, and blocking pedestrian crosswalks, pose significant risks to public safety, leading to preventable injuries and fatalities. Your Committee further finds that the lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms has contributed to these persistent traffic violations, endangering pedestrians and motorists alike. This measure strengthens traffic safety by increasing penalties for reckless driving, expanding automated enforcement systems, and enhancing measures to deter impaired driving, thereby creating safer roadways for all residents.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the authorization to implement automated speed enforcement systems within two hundred feet of a school zone;

(2) Specifying that the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council prioritize proposals for emergency egress routes in areas with significant populations of Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) households, as well as communities and households experiencing high levels of poverty;

(3) Specifying that, of the areas submitted by the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council for emergency ingress and egress routes accessible to vehicles during emergencies or extreme congestion, one of the areas be on the Waianae Coast of Oahu;

(4) Clarifying that the implementation by the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council be in compliance with applicable federal and state emergency management regulations;

(5) Amending the process by which the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council and Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee selects intersections and most-dangerous school zones, including the number of such intersections and school zones;

(6) Requiring the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council and Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee to submit annual reports;

(7) Specifying that any expansion of the Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program or Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program account for their impact on the district courts statewide and provide up to six months from the time of identification for the courts to collaborate with the Department of Transportation before implementing any expansion of the programs;

(8) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(9) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1667, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1667, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

____________________________

DARIUS KILA, Chair