SB1116

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that addressing Hawaii's high cost of living means empowering residents with cheaper options to commute, especially for the next generation. In the year 2000, ninety-nine per cent of all eighteen- to nineteen-year-old residents held driver's licenses. Today, that number has fallen to about sixty per cent. People are more frequently using transportation such as commuting by bicycle and electric bicycle to significantly lower their cost of living. Families with multiple cars replacing one car with a bicycle or electric bicycle can save as much as ten thousand dollars per year.

Bicycles and electric bicycles are also less burdensome on the State's infrastructure. Every resident that transitions from commuting by car to commuting by bicycle or electric bicycle reduces road wear, congestion, traffic, and cost to taxpayers. Bicycles and electric bicycles also produce zero emissions and can replace dirtier means of transportation, thereby reducing the State's dependence on imported fossil fuels.

However, the legislature also finds that bicycle and electric bicycle theft is a growing challenge. Bicycle and electric bicycle theft is a particularly pernicious property offense against residents who rely on their bicycles and electric bicycles to commute, especially to work. As a result, bicycle and electric bicycle theft can deprive a person of their property interest and their ability to earn income. For this very reason, for decades theft of a motor vehicle, regardless of its dollar value, is an expressly defined offense.

Currently, there is no expressly defined offense for theft of a bicycle or electric bicycle, despite such loss having the same result on a working individual or family as theft of a motor vehicle. Theft of a bicycle valued at more than $750 is currently a class C felony under the offense of theft in the second degree in section 708-831, Hawaii Revised Statutes. However, many bicycles and electric bicycles are sold for less than $750, which contributes to both their popularity as a means of reducing the cost of living, and as a target for theft since there exists little penalty. Therefore, to deter theft of all bicycles, and in consideration of the important role of bicycles in many working families' lives, the legislature believes that theft of a bicycle of any value should be expressly defined in the penal code as is theft of a motor vehicle.

The purpose of this Act is to establish the offense of theft of a bicycle.

SECTION 2. Chapter 708, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part IV to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§708- Theft of a bicycle. (1) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a person commits the offense of theft of a bicycle if the person commits theft of a bicycle or electric bicycle.

(2) A person who commits the offense of theft of a bicycle shall:

(a) For the first offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor; and

(b) For the second and each subsequent offense that occurs within five years of a prior conviction for an offense under this section, be guilty of a class C felony.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

"Bicycle" means a vehicle propelled solely by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandan wheels, and including any vehicle generally recognized as a bicycle though equipped with two front or two rear wheels except a toy bicycle. "Electric bicycle" means a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor not to exceed seven hundred and fifty watts that meets the requirements of one of the following three classes:

(1) Class 1 electric bicycle, which is an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of twenty miles per hour;

(2) Class 2 electric bicycle, which is an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of twenty miles per hour; or

(3) Class 3 electric bicycle, which is an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of twenty-eight miles per hour.

"Toy bicycle" shall have the same meaning as defined in section 291C-1."

SECTION 3. Section 708-803, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:

"(1) A person commits the offense of habitual property crime if the person is a habitual property crime perpetrator and commits a property crime[.]; provided that this section shall not apply to a person who commits the offense of theft of a bicycle under section 708- ."

SECTION 4. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1116
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII