HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

182

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the department of transportation to review and evaluate the practice of erecting roadside memorials with respect to the safety of both pedestrians and motorists.

 

 

WHEREAS, the safety of motorists and pedestrians is of paramount concern to the public as well as to the government; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation represents the State in matters concerning both traffic safety and the efficient use of the State's roads and highways; and

WHEREAS, on occasion, upon the death of a pedestrian or motorist, friends, families, and neighbors of those who died in a traffic accident spontaneously erect roadside memorials at the site of the accident in memory of their loved ones; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that these memorials offer an avenue for the expression of grief and a way to remember loved ones who have died; and

WHEREAS, however, the size and placement of some of these memorials may create the ironic and unintended effect of creating a traffic hazard that may endanger other pedestrians or motorists, either because the memorials prove overly distracting, thus decreasing the attention both motorists and pedestrians should pay to traffic, or because the memorials themselves are too large or placed in such a way as to obstruct the view of pedestrians and motorists to traffic; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation is requested to review and evaluate the practice of erecting roadside memorials with respect to the safety of both pedestrians and motorists, and, if deemed appropriate to develop standards to regulate the practice; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to take into consideration the size, placement, and duration of such roadside memorials in its review; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, including any necessary proposed legislation, not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

DOT Traffic Safety Review; Roadside Memorials