STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2345

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2819

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2819 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require slow-moving vehicles on a two-lane highway, behind which five vehicles are formed in a line, to pull over where possible to let the trailing vehicles proceed when passing is unsafe.

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

Your Committee finds that in 2022, Hawaii was ranked in the top ten states in the country for bad driving, citing data on DUIs, accidents, citations, and speeding tickets. Your Committee further finds that traffic safety and congestion has been a key frustration for residents in the State. This measure will improve operational efficiency and minimize road rage statewide by managing traffic flow.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language to clarify that cars are only required to move off the roadway at the nearest safe location; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

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 S.B. No. 2819, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2819, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair