REPORT TITLE:
Driver's licenses


DESCRIPTION:
Requires proof of behind-the-wheel driving training for minor
driver's license applicants; raises minimum age for driver's
license and permit applicants; directs director of transportation
to establish and certify a statewide driver education program and
behind-the-wheel driver training program.  (HB167 CD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        167
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 3
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            C.D. 1
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER LICENSING.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 286-104, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "�286-104  What persons shall not be licensed.  The examiner
 
 4 of drivers shall not issue any license hereunder:
 
 5      (1)  To any person whose license has been suspended by a
 
 6           court of competent jurisdiction during the suspension
 
 7           period; nor to any person whose license has been
 
 8           revoked until the expiration of one year after the date
 
 9           of the revocation, or until the expiration of the
 
10           period of revocation specified by law, whichever is
 
11           greater; nor to any person who, while unlicensed, has
 
12           within two years been convicted of driving under the
 
13           influence of alcohol or drugs;
 
14      (2)  To any person who is required by this part to take an
 
15           examination, unless such person has successfully passed
 
16           the examination;
 
17      (3)  To any person who is required under the motor vehicle
 
18           financial responsibility laws of this State to deposit
 
19           proof of financial responsibility and who has not
 
20           deposited such proof;
 

 
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 1      (4)  To any person when the examiner of drivers has good
 
 2           cause to believe that such person by reason of physical
 
 3           or mental disability would not be able to operate a
 
 4           motor vehicle with safety upon the highways; or
 
 5      (5)  To any person who is under eighteen years of age;
 
 6           provided that a person who is fifteen years and six
 
 7           months may be granted an instruction permit; and
 
 8           provided further that a person who is sixteen to
 
 9           seventeen years of age may be granted a license upon
 
10           satisfying the requirements of sections 286-108 and
 
11           286-109, which license shall be valid for four years
 
12           and may be suspended or revoked by a judge having
 
13           jurisdiction over the holder of the license.  Upon
 
14           revocation of the license, the person shall not be
 
15           eligible to operate a motor vehicle on the highway
 
16           until the person is eighteen years of age and has again
 
17           satisfied the requirements of sections 286-108 and
 
18           286-109.
 
19      Any person denied a license under this or any other section
 
20 of this part shall have a right of appeal as provided in section
 
21 286-129."
 
22      SECTION 2.  Section 286-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
23 amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
 

 
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 1      "(a)  Except as provided in section 286-107.5(a), the
 
 2 examiner of drivers shall examine every applicant for a driver's
 
 3 license, except as otherwise provided in this part.  The
 
 4 examination shall include a test of:
 
 5      (1)  The applicant's eyesight and any further physical
 
 6           examination [as] that the examiner of drivers finds
 
 7           necessary to determine the applicant's fitness to
 
 8           operate a motor vehicle safely upon the highways;
 
 9      (2)  The applicant's ability to understand highway signs
 
10           regulating, warning, and directing traffic;
 
11      (3)  The applicant's knowledge of the rules of the road
 
12           based on the traffic laws of the State and the traffic
 
13           ordinances of the county where the applicant resides or
 
14           intends to operate a motor vehicle; and
 
15      (4)  The actual demonstration of ability to exercise
 
16           ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a
 
17           motor vehicle.
 
18 The examinations shall be appropriate to the operation of the
 
19 category of motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be
 
20 licensed and shall be conducted as required by the director.
 
21      The examiner of drivers may waive the actual demonstration
 
22 of ability to operate a motorcycle or motor scooter for any
 
23 person who furnishes evidence, to the satisfaction of the
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 3
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 1 examiner of drivers, that the person has completed the motorcycle
 
 2 education course approved by the director in accordance with
 
 3 section 431:10G-104.
 
 4      At the time of examination, an application for voter
 
 5 registration by mail shall be made available to every applicant
 
 6 for a driver's license.
 
 7      For the purposes of this section, the term "applicant" does
 
 8 not include any person reactivating a license under section
 
 9 286-107.5(a).
 
10      (b)  [Except as provided in subsection (c), the] The
 
11 examiner of drivers shall require proof from every applicant
 
12 under the age of eighteen that the applicant has completed a
 
13 driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training
 
14 course certified by the director of transportation.  The examiner
 
15 of drivers shall not examine any applicant for a driver's license
 
16 who is [fifteen] sixteen through seventeen years of age unless
 
17 the applicant holds a valid instruction permit under section 286-
 
18 110, for a period of no fewer than ninety days."
 
19      SECTION 3.  Section 286-110, Revised Statutes, is amended as
 
20 follows:
 
21      1.  By amending subsection (a) to read:
 
22      "(a)  Any person aged fifteen years and six months or more
 
23 who, except for the person's lack of instruction in operating a
 

 
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                                                        S.D. 2
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 1 motor vehicle, would be qualified to obtain a driver's license
 
 2 issued under this part may apply for a temporary instruction
 
 3 permit at the office of the examiner of drivers in the county in
 
 4 which the applicant resides."
 
 5      2.  By amending subsection (c) to read:
 
 6      "(c)  If the examiner of drivers is satisfied that the
 
 7 applicant is qualified to receive an instruction permit, the
 
 8 examiner of drivers shall issue the permit entitling the
 
 9 applicant, while having the permit in the applicant's immediate
 
10 possession, to drive a motor vehicle upon the highways for a
 
11 period of one hundred eighty days; provided that an applicant who
 
12 is registered in a driver training course shall be issued a
 
13 temporary instruction permit for the duration of the course and
 
14 the termination date of the course shall be entered on the
 
15 permit.  A person who is not licensed to operate the category of
 
16 motor vehicles to which the driving training course applies shall
 
17 not operate a motor vehicle in connection with the driving
 
18 training course without a valid temporary instruction permit."
 
19      SECTION 4.  The director of transportation is directed to
 
20 establish and certify a statewide driver education program and
 
21 behind-the-wheel driver training program, to include the number
 
22 of course hours, curriculum, and certification of teachers and
 
23 third-party examiners.  The director of transportation is also
 

 
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 1 directed to set a cost for the programs to enable the programs to
 
 2 be self-sufficient.  The director of transportation shall adopt
 
 3 rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, necessary
 
 4 for the purposes of this Act.
 
 5      SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 6 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 7      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2001.