STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 384
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 54
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 H.B. No. 54 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to increase the penalty for a third or subsequent offense, within five years, of excessive speeding to a class C felony and that the vehicle be subject to forfeiture.
Your Committee finds that excessive speeding presents a significant threat to public safety, contributing to severe accidents, injuries, and fatalities on Hawaii's roads. Your Committee further finds that a 2011 study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the average risk of death for a pedestrian reaches fifty percent at an impact speed of forty-two miles per hour, seventy-five percent at fifty miles per hour, and ninety percent at an impact speed of fifty-eight miles per hour. These alarming statistics do not consider age and fatality rates would be higher for the most vulnerable populations. By enhancing penalties for repeat offenders to felony offenses, this measure aims to deter dangerous driving behaviors and promote greater accountability among motorists.
Your Committee notes the concerns raised in written testimony from the Office of the Public Defender regarding the punishment on a non-violent traffic offense that this measure would impose. Your Committee acknowledges these concerns and respectfully asks your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, should it deliberate on this measure, to work with the Office of the Public Offender and other stakeholders in ensuring a fair and just resolution.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Requiring as part of sentencing that a person be ordered to report to an appropriate law enforcement agency or governmental agency for fingerprinting;
(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and
(3) 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 H.B. No. 54, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 54, 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,
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____________________________ DARIUS KILA, Chair |