STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2504

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2508

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2508 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATEWIDE TRAFFIC CODE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to define the term "accident" as used in the statewide traffic code that refer to offenses involving vehicles, death, injury to persons and property and leaving the scene, by including the term "collision".

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Honolulu Police Department; and Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu.

 

     Your Committee finds that the term accident is not clear as to whether it includes a collision as to offenses in the statewide traffic code covering accidents involving death, bodily injury, damage to property, duty to give information and aid, and reporting of the accident, death and injury to persons or property.  The Department of Transportation, the Honolulu Police Department, and the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu each testified that the word "accident" could be interpreted to include, not only the incident or event, but also the state of mind of the offender-- that the event occurred purely without fault, negligence or state of mind of the offender.  Thus, a person who has "left the scene of an accident" could never be charged in conjunction with other offenses that require a culpable state of mind such as negligent homicide or negligent injury.  Therefore, your Committee has amended this measure by replacing the word "accident" with the word "collision" in the relevant statutes, not to change the meaning of the applicable statutes in any way, but to use more accurate terminology that better reflects the original intention of the statutes.  Your Committee also made technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2508, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2508, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

 

 

 

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair