STAND. COM. REP. NO. 30

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 225

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 225 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the offense of habitually operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant to include operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant after at least one conviction within the previous ten years for habitually operating a motor vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Honolulu Police Department; Maui Police Department; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Maui; County of Kauai, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, County of Hawaii; and Hawaii Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure clarifies and strengthens existing law which is intended to address repeat offenders.  According to testimony, a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that a person with prior convictions for driving under the influence is 4.1 times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle collision.  Another study has shown that the chances of being involved in a fatal motor vehicle collision increase with every additional driving under the influence arrest.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making 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. 225, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 225, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair