54
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT STANDING COMMITTEE ON
    HAWAII RULES ON EVIDENCE TO STUDY THE APPROPRIATE USE OF
    COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AT TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
    SCENES.



 1        WHEREAS, lane closures by police investigations of
 2   traffic accidents are often aggravated by "rubbernecking" on
 3   the part of passing drivers; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, this "rubbernecking" phenomenon causes
 6   significant traffic delays and may result in secondary traffic
 7   accidents; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the legislature wishes to encourage off-site
10   computer analysis of photographs of the scene in place of on-
11   site measurements of physical evidence, to the extent feasible;
12   and
13   
14        WHEREAS, it is necessary to determine the extent and
15   manner in which computer analysis of photographs to determine
16   locations, distances, and dimensions of physical evidence of
17   the scene of an accident may fairly be used in place of actual
18   on-scene measurements; now, therefore,
19   
20        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
21   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
22   Representatives concurring, that the Hawaii Supreme Court
23   Standing Committee on Hawaii Rules of Evidence is requested to
24   study, in consultation with the Department of Transportation
25   and the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of
26   Hawaii at Manoa, the fairest evidentiary treatment of computer
27   analysis of photographs to determine locations, distances, and
28   dimensions of physical evidence of the scene of a traffic
29   accident, so that the computer analysis may be used whenever
30   appropriate in place of lengthy on-site investigation of the
31   scene; and
32   
33        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Standing Committee is
34   requested to report its findings and recommendations to the
35   legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the 2001
36   regular session; and
37   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of
 3   the Hawaii Supreme Court and the Chair of the Hawaii Supreme
 4   Court Standing Committee on Hawaii Rules of Evidence.
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________