STAND. COM. REP. NO.252

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 91

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 91 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAYS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Transportation (DOT) to remove highway obstructions that interfere with traffic or endanger public safety, and to provide limited immunity to DOT employees and agents from claims of damage to personal property.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the DOT, the Police Department of the City and County of Honolulu, and Verizon Hawaii. The Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii submitted testimony opposing the portions of the measure that provide the DOT with civil immunity.

Your Committee finds that due to serious traffic congestion in Hawaii, particularly in urban areas, obstructions on the highways must be removed as fast as possible. Therefore, your Committee supports this measure, which will facilitate a multi-agency program to improve clearance of highway obstructions ranging from stalled vehicles to major accidents.

Your Committee also supports providing DOT employees and agents limited immunity from claims for damage to personal property. Your Committee finds that DOT employees and agents work diligently and carefully in the public interest, and that the DOT and the State should not be unduly penalized. At the same time, this measure allows lawsuits for personal injuries caused by the removal of an obstruction pursuant to this measure. Your Committee finds this to be an appropriate balance between the public interest and the right of an injured person to seek redress.

Your Committee amended this measure by expanding the civil immunity provided to DOT personnel by including alleged claims of damage to personal property, and clarifying that immunity does not extend to claims for personal injury.

Your Committee also amended this measure to create an exemption so that DOT authority to remove obstructions does not apply to facilities and equipment belonging to a public utility. Public utility equipment is highly specialized, and your Committee agrees that employees of the utility should handle their own equipment to prevent disruption of service and to protect the public.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 91, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 91, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations,

____________________________

CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair