STAND. COM. REP. NO. 442

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 493

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 493 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTIONS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Provide that no new vehicle needs a safety inspection until five years after the date the vehicle was first sold, unless the vehicle was modified;

 

     (2)  Require a two-year motor vehicle safety check for vehicles ten years of age but older than five years, unless the vehicle was modified;

 

     (3)  Require an annual motor vehicle safety check for vehicles older than ten years of age or any vehicle that has been modified; and

 

     (4)  Double the inspection fee for the two-year motor vehicles inspections safety check.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from three individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that to optimize the effectiveness of highway safety programs, the National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration recommends that each state have a program for periodic safety inspections of all motor vehicles.  Motor vehicle safety inspections are intended to reduce the number of vehicles with existing or potential conditions that may contribute to crashes or increase the severity of crashes that do occur.  Creating oversight is imperative to ensure motor vehicles are kept in good working order to prevent danger to the driver, occupants of the vehicle, or any other individual on the roadway.

 

     However, your Committee notes that decreased availability of safety inspectors, compounded by the increasingly limited number of hours offered to the public to receive safety check inspections, has caused annual motor vehicle hardship on residents, particularly those living in rural areas.  By amending the requirements for motor vehicle safety inspections, the State can maintain high vehicle safety standards while addressing the needs of safety inspectors and drivers.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language that would have amended annual safety check requirements for certain vehicles;

 

     (2)  Establishing a three-year pilot program to:

 

          (A)  Provide new vehicles with a three-year grace period and electric vehicles with a two-year grace period before requiring annual safety inspections; and

 

          (B)  Require electric vehicles participating in a road usage charge program shall pay the road usage charge fee based on a self-reported photo odometer reading;

 

     (3)  Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

 

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (5)  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 and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 493, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 493, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

 

 

 

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair