STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1387

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.C.R. No. 142

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Transportation and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 142 entitled:

 

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ASSESS THE INCIDENCE OF ALCOHOL-RELATED MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS AND ASSOCIATED MEDICAL COSTS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Transportation to assess the incidence of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents in the State and their associated medical costs.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii; and one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation.

 

     Your Committees find that alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents are a persistent problem in the State.  These accidents have a devastating impact on victims, their families, and society in general.  Providing medical treatment to the victims of alcohol-related accidents can also be very costly.

 

     Your Committees further find that there is a need to better understand the number, impact, and cost of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents in the State.  Quantifying the effects of these accidents will help demonstrate the need for enhanced prevention efforts and to prepare for and address their associated financial costs.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requesting the Department of Health to conduct the assessment of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents, rather than the Department of Transportation;

 

     (2)  Adding all types of alcohol-related injuries to the scope of the Department of Health's assessment;

 

     (3)  Clarifying that the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine is requested to collaborate with the Department of Health for purposes of assessing the incidence of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents and alcohol-related injuries in the State and their associated medical costs;

 

     (4)  Requesting the police department of each county to assist the Department of Health in providing statistics of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents and alcohol-related injuries in each of their respective counties;

 

     (5)  Amending the title to reflect its amended purpose; and

 

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 142, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 142, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Health,

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair