Report Title:

Vehicles; Hand-held Cellular Phones; Use Prohibited While Driving

Description:

Prohibits the operator of a motor vehicle from using a hand-held cellular phone while operating a motor vehicle. (SD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

49

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to traffic violations.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 291, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§291- Use of cellular telephones while driving; prohibited. (a) Except as provided in subsection (d), no person shall operate a motor vehicle upon a public highway while using a hand-held cellular telephone to engage in a call while the vehicle is in motion.

(b) An operator of a motor vehicle who holds a cellular telephone to, or in the immediate proximity of, the operator's ear while the vehicle is in motion shall be presumed to be engaged in a call within the meaning of this section. The presumption established under this subsection may be rebutted by evidence tending to show that the operator was not engaged in a call.

(c) This section shall not be construed as authorizing the seizure or forfeiture of a cellular telephone, unless otherwise provided by law.

(d) This section shall not apply to:

(1) The use of a hand-held cellular telephone by an operator of a motor vehicle for the sole purpose of making a "911" emergency call;

(2) The use of a hand-held cellular telephone by a police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel, while in the performance of their official duties; or

(3) The use of a cellular telephone with a hands-free device or hands-free technologies.

For purposes of this section, a "hands-free device or hands-free technologies" means any device or accessory that allows the user to engage in a call without the use of either hand, whether or not the use of either hand is necessary to activate, deactivate, or initiate a function of the telephone.

(e) Any person who violates this section shall be fined not more than $100.

(f) Law enforcement officials shall only enforce this section as a secondary offense, when the operator of a motor vehicle has been detained for a separate violation of law.

(g) The regulation of operator use of a cellular telephone in a motor vehicle is expressly reserved to the State."

SECTION 2. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2004, and shall be repealed on January 1, 2006.