SB1575 HD2

Report Title:

Traffic Code; Pedestrian Safety

 

Description:

Repeals Part VII Pedestrian's Rights and Duties of the Traffic Code and re-enacts the provisions to include prohibitions against jaywalking. (SB1575 HD2)

 

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1575
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 2

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to the traffic code.

 

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

SECTION 1. For the past fourteen years, an average of two pedestrians have died each month, and an average of two pedestrians have been injured each day, after being hit by a car in Hawaii. This amounts to three hundred forty-five pedestrian fatalities and nine thousand four hundred sixty-four pedestrian injuries from 1986-1999.

Eighty-six per cent of the fatalities occurred while the pedestrian was trying to cross the street and thirty-five per cent of those hit were in a crosswalk.

Thirty years ago, most of our highways had two lanes. Today most highways have four to six lanes, and it has become increasingly more difficult for pedestrians to safely cross the street.

Hawaii's drivers are often in a hurry and do not want to yield the right-of-way to anyone, especially pedestrians. A recent survey conducted for the department of transportation shows that when a person was a pedestrian, ninety-five per cent felt drivers should stop for them when they stepped onto a crosswalk. However, when a person was the driver, ninety-five per cent felt that pedestrians should wait to cross until there were no cars.

Jaywalking is also a major contributor to pedestrian fatalities. Eighty-eight per cent of those polled in the survey felt that jaywalking was dangerous, and sixty per cent felt there should be a state law against it.

Eighty-seven per cent of the drivers said they stop for pedestrians in crosswalks an average of fifty-nine per cent of the time. Thirty-one per cent of the pedestrians said they have either been hit or almost hit by a driver while trying to cross the street.

Hawaii's pedestrian laws were written in 1971 and followed the model traffic code at the time. The last amendment to our pedestrian laws occurred in 1977, although just about everything else relating to our population and traffic has undergone major changes since then. Most other states have similar pedestrian laws to Hawaii and are also experiencing increased pedestrian fatalities and injuries. Current pedestrian laws focus primarily on the responsibilities of the pedestrian, not the driver.

Everyone is a pedestrian at some time each day, walking from their home to their mode of transportation, walking from the transportation to their office or school, while shopping, banking, or going for a walk. Walking is one of the most environmentally-friendly modes of transportation that enhances both personal and social well-being. The investment in automobile infrastructure has brought us to the point where travel by non-motorized means is often difficult and unsafe, and the needs of pedestrians are often ignored.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to amend the law relating to pedestrians to make our streets safer by:

(1) Mandating that drivers yield to pedestrians in intersections and in crosswalks; and

(2) Prohibiting pedestrians from jaywalking when a crosswalk or intersection is close by.

By doing so, this Act establishes a pedestrian bill of rights as follows:

(1) All pedestrians in the State of Hawaii should have the right to a safe place for walking, including the ability to safely cross streets;

(2) Pedestrians should cross streets at intersections or in marked crosswalks to enhance their safety;

(3) Pedestrians should have the right-of-way in all controlled intersections or intersections with signals, particularly over vehicles turning into a crosswalk with a green light; and

(4) Drivers of all vehicles should yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the street in a crosswalk or in an intersection.

SECTION 2. Chapter 291C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"PART . PEDESTRIANS' BILL OF RIGHTS

§291C-A Pedestrian right-of-way in intersections and crosswalks. (a) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway at an intersection or in a crosswalk. If the pedestrian is crossing at an intersection that does not have a crosswalk, the driver shall yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian. The drivers of vehicles in all adjacent lanes shall also yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian. All drivers traveling in the opposite direction on a roadway with a median shall immediately yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian as soon as the pedestrian reaches the driver's half of the roadway.

As used in this subsection, "yield" means stopping as required to avoid injury or damage.

(b) This section shall not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for the pedestrian's own safety.

(c) No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and proceed into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

(d) No pedestrian shall unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while crossing an intersection or a crosswalk.

(e) No pedestrian shall cross outside an intersection or crosswalk, except in a residential area where the nearest intersection or crosswalk is more than two hundred feet away.

(f) Subsection (e) shall not relieve a driver of a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of any pedestrian.

(g) A person who violates a pedestrian's right-of-way as described in this section shall be guilty of violating the statewide traffic code.

(h) A pedestrian who crosses a street outside a crosswalk or intersection, when one is located within two hundred feet, in violation of subsection (e), shall be guilty of violating the statewide traffic code.

§291C-B Crossing at other than intersections and crosswalks. (a) Every pedestrian, upon a roadway at any point other than at an intersection or in a crosswalk, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles.

(b) This section shall not relieve the driver of a vehicle from the duty to exercise due care for the safety of any pedestrian upon a roadway.

§291C-C Pedestrian obedience to traffic-control devices and traffic regulations. (a) A pedestrian shall obey the instructions of any official traffic-control device specifically applicable to the pedestrian, unless otherwise directed by a police officer.

(b) Pedestrians shall be subject to traffic and pedestrian-control signals as provided in sections 291C-32 and 291C-33.

§291C-D Turns at intersections. When turning at intersections, whether or not a signal is present, drivers shall yield to pedestrians before beginning their turn.

§291C-E Pedestrians on roadways. (a) Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway, bicycle lane, or bicycle path.

(b) Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway, when practicable, shall walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder, facing traffic that may approach from the opposite direction.

§291C-F Pedestrians' right-of-way on sidewalks. The driver of a vehicle emerging from or entering an alley, building, private road, or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian approaching on any sidewalk extending across the alley, building entrance, road, or driveway."

SECTION 3. Section 291C-172, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§291C-172 Refusal to provide identification. [(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), any] Any person detained for a violation of this chapter shall provide the person's name and address, or any proof thereof, or both, upon the lawful order or direction of any police officer in the course and scope of the officer's duties pursuant to this chapter.

[(b) A pedestrian who is detained for violating part VII of this chapter shall provide the person's name and address upon the lawful order or direction of a police officer in the course and scope of the officer's duties. If the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is being deceptive or misleading in providing the person's name and address, the person shall provide such proof thereof, upon the lawful order or direction of the police officer.]"

SECTION 4. Section 291C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by deleting the definition of "safety zone".

[""Safety zone" means the area or space officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone."]

SECTION 5. Chapter 291C, part VII, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 6. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.