STAND. COM. REP. NO. 789-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 1822

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1822 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRIVER'S LICENSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Amend the driver's license renewal period for licensees who are seventy years of age or older but younger than eighty years of age; and

(2) Require applicants for a new driver's license or renewal of driver's license who are seventy years of age or older to present certification of physical and mental competence from a doctor.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and AARP Hawai‘i. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that many seventy-year-olds are physically fit and mentally capable of performing a wide range of activities, including driving. Your Committee further finds that the Department of Transportation has not found any local data to indicate drivers aged seventy or older are at higher risk of causing or being involved in crashes. Therefore, your Committee believes that the current two-year renewal period for drivers aged seventy-two to seventy-nine should be extended to four years.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Increasing the age at which a driver must renew their driver's license every four years from seventy years of age to seventy-two years of age;

(2) Deleting language that required applicants for a new driver's license or renewal of driver's license who are seventy years of age or older to present certification of physical and mental competence from a doctor;

(3) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2222, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1822, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1822, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair