STAND. COM. REP. NO. 635

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1709

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1709 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOPEDS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to treat three-wheeled mopeds designed to carry a driver and a passenger seated side by side the same way as single driver mopeds except for the requirement that the driver sit astride and alone on the moped.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from Adventure Rentals, LLC and Shamrock Importers, LLC.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Transportation (DOT).  Comments were received from the Honolulu Department of Customer Services.

 

     The intent of this measure is to allow three-wheeled mopeds that are designed to carry a passenger on highways, streets, and roadways in the same way as single driver mopeds.  Under existing law, two or three-wheeled mopeds are allowed to be driven on highways, streets, and roadways, and on bikeways when bicycle lanes and paths are provided.  Testimony indicated that three-wheeled mopeds that are designed to carry a passenger are generally larger than single driver mopeds and present safety issues that may not be covered under existing laws that regulate single driver mopeds.  Your Committee believes that these safety and related issues need further discussion and review.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, for the interested parties and the DOT to continue discussion on reaching a workable solution to the safety and related issues under the existing moped law.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1709, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1709, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

 

 

 

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair