STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1403

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 541

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 541, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VEHICLE SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require proper head lamp specifications for vehicle safety inspections.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation.

Prior to the hearing on this measure, your Committee posted and made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which requires proper head lamp specifications for vehicle safety inspection and requires the Department of Transportation to amend its administrative rules to allow motor vehicle owners whose motor vehicle registration and safety check are both expired to register their motor vehicle without first obtaining a certificate of inspection or obtain a certificate of inspection without first registering their motor vehicle.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from one individual.

Your Committee finds that motor vehicle safety inspections ensure that all vehicle safety equipment is properly maintained to provide maximum safety for all roadway users. However, current processes for motor vehicle safety inspections require a valid motor vehicle registration. For certain motor vehicle owners who have expired motor vehicle registration, this creates a cumbersome process that requires the owner to fail a motor vehicle safety inspection, pay for a new motor vehicle registration, and return to the motor vehicle safety inspection site to receive a new inspection. This measure will add clarity to and streamline the process of motor vehicle safety inspections.

Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1 and further amending the measure by specifying that the owner of a motor vehicle whose registration and safety check are both expired shall first obtain a certificate of inspection, then register the motor vehicle.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 541, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 541, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair