HB1741 HD1

Report Title:

School Vehicles; Use of Mobile Telephones

 

Description:

Prohibits the use of a mobile telephone while operating a moving school vehicle. Defines "mobile telephone". (HB1741 HD1)

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1741
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO PUPIL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.

 

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

SECTION 1. Section 286-181, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) As used in this section, "school vehicle" means any publicly or privately owned motor vehicle used to transport pupils to and from a school, as defined in section 302A-901, school functions, or school-related events, except:

(1) A motor vehicle used for the transportation of pupils attending schools above the twelfth grade or pupils over eighteen years of age;

(2) A privately-owned passenger vehicle when the transportation is provided without compensation of any kind;

(3) A motor vehicle used for the transportation of pupils together with other passengers as a part of the regularly scheduled operation of a mass transit system; or

(4) A privately-owned motor vehicle when the transportation is provided by a community association or a nonprofit corporation, duly incorporated with the department of commerce and consumer affairs, which operates for the purpose of promoting recreation, health, safety, ridesharing, or social group functions."

2. By amending subsection (e) to read:

"(e) The department of transportation shall adopt safety rules and standards relating to school vehicles, equipment, and drivers, including [but not limited to]:

(1) School vehicle and school vehicle equipment design, construction, and identification;

(2) School vehicle driver qualification and training as required by law;

(3) School vehicle operation[;], including the use of a mobile telephone while operating a moving school vehicle;

(4) School vehicle maintenance and maintenance records;

(5) Special school vehicle safety inspections;

(6) Criteria for passenger loading and unloading safety areas; and

(7) Procedures and criteria for the granting of exemptions permitted under subsections (b), (c), and (d);

provided that the rules and standards shall permit the use of small buses or vans weighing less than ten thousand pounds for the transportation of pupils of a day care center, child care facility, headstart program, and preschool, or of school pupils and school staffs to and from school-related activities.

For the purposes of this subsection:

"Mobile telephone" means a cellular mobile radio telephone or other radio telephone capable of sending or receiving telephone communications without an access line for service."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.