STAND. COM. REP. NO. 264

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1667

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 S.B. No. 1667 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit any vehicles from blocking marked crosswalks;

(2) Establish additional penalties for repeat convictions for reckless driving and excessive speeding;

(3) Require a person under arrest who refuses to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test to surrender their license to a law enforcement officer;

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

(5) Allow the appeal of any license suspension to be filed with the administrative driver's license revocation office;

(6) Authorize the State Highway Safety and Modernization Council to implement an additional twenty-five photo red light imaging detector systems;

(7) Authorize the Department of Transportation to implement an additional twenty-five speed enforcement systems in school zones as designated by the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee;

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

(9) Require a report to the Legislature; and

    (10) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, and Hawaiʻi Bicycling League.

Your Committee finds that traffic safety is critical to improving public safety in local communities throughout the State. A myriad of dangers including speeding, disregard for traffic signals, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol can threaten the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motor vehicle drivers. By establishing additional authorizations for the State, law enforcement, Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee, and State Highway Safety and Modernization Council, this measure can further the State's prioritization of the health and safety of users on Hawaii's roads and highways.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised by the Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding the current criteria for automated speed enforcement placement. According to testimony, current statute allows input from the counties to the State regarding automated speed enforcement systems. Your Committee acknowledges the DOT's recommendations and therefore amendments to this measure are necessary to align with this testimony.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Authorizing both the State and counties or county agencies to implement or install automated speed enforcement systems within two hundred feet of a school in zones identified by the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee;

(2) Deleting language that would have established additional penalties for habitual excessive speeding;

(3) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount;

(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee notes that this measure, as amended, contains unspecified appropriation amounts. Should your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that they consider an appropriation amount of $500,000 for the Department of Transportation to coordinate with metropolitan planning organizations for training and education for all levels of government focused on traffic safety, multimodal and pedestrian infrastructure, and other priorities as may be appropriate.

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 S.B. No. 1667, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1667, 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,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair