Report Title:

Pickup trucks

Description:

Establishes a total ban on unsecured passengers riding in the cargo areas of pickup trucks.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

848

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

 

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

SECTION 1. Every year in Hawaii, people die or are seriously injured while riding in the open beds of pickup trucks. The beds of pickup trucks are not designed for human transportation and lack seat belts and other safety features that are found in the passenger compartment of an automobile. In 1996, the legislature enacted a law to prohibit children under thirteen from riding in the beds of pickup trucks. This law must be expanded to prohibit any person, regardless of age, from riding in the back of pickup trucks.

The purpose of this Act is to protect all passengers, adults and children alike, from riding in the cargo area of a pickup truck.

SECTION 2. Section 291-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§291-14 Pickup trucks; passenger restrictions. (a) No person shall stand in the bed or load-carrying area of any motor vehicle commonly known as a pickup truck while the vehicle is in operation. No operator of any pickup truck shall operate the vehicle with [a] an unsecured passenger seated in the bed or load-carrying area of the vehicle [unless:

(1) There is no seating available in the cab of the vehicle;

(2) The side racks of the vehicle are securely attached and the tailboard or tailgate is securely closed;

(3) Every passenger in the bed or load-carrying area of the vehicle is seated on the floor and does not attempt to control unlashed cargo.

(b) This section shall not apply to persons or corporations operating a business or businesses that serve the public, who or which are subject to the jurisdiction, supervision, and regulations prescribed by state agencies or departments nor to their agents or employees when engaged in the business of such persons or corporations.

(c) No operator of any pickup truck may operate the vehicle with any passenger twelve years of age or under in the bed or load-carrying area of the vehicle,] unless one of the following applies:

(1) An emergency exists that threatens the life of the passenger being transported in the bed or load-carrying area of the vehicle; or

(2) The vehicle is being operated in parades, caravans, or exhibitions which are officially authorized or otherwise permitted by law.

[(d)](b) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a fine of $25 for each violation [; provided that any person who violates subsection (c) shall be subject to a fine of $50 for each separate violation].

[(e)](c) As used in this section[, "pickup truck"]:

"Pickup truck" means a light truck that has a cab on the front part of the vehicle covering the driver's seat and an open bed behind the cab designed primarily to transport property or cargo, with sides and a tailgate to retain the contents within the confines of the bed, and has a maximum gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of [11,000] eleven thousand pounds or less.

"Unsecured passenger" means any person, regardless of age, who is a passenger in the bed of a pickup truck and who is not restrained by a seatbelt or other restraint device installed by the manufacturer of the vehicle."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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