HB2116

SECTION 1. Section 286-101.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The director may grant reciprocal licensing privileges to any person eighteen years of age or older who holds a license from another country or state, thereby allowing the examiner of drivers to waive examination requirements under section [~~286-108(c)(3),~~] 286-108(d)(3) if:

(1) That jurisdiction has procedures in place to verify the validity of the driver's licenses it issues;

(2) That jurisdiction has granted a waiver of all or any part of the driver's license examination requirements for Hawaii licensed drivers applying for a driver's license in that jurisdiction; and

(3) The director determines that the standards of that jurisdiction for licensing operators of motor vehicles correspond substantially to those of this State."

SECTION 2. Section 286-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§286-108 Examination of applicants. (a) Except as provided in section 286-107.5(a), the examiner of drivers shall examine every applicant for a driver's license, except as otherwise provided in this part. The examination shall include a test of:

(1) The applicant's eyesight and any further physical examination that the examiner of drivers finds necessary to determine the applicant's fitness to operate a motor vehicle safely upon the highways;

(2) The applicant's ability to understand highway signs regulating, warning, and directing traffic;

(3) The applicant's knowledge of the rules of the road based on the traffic laws of the State and the traffic ordinances of the county where the applicant resides or intends to operate a motor vehicle; provided that the examination shall specifically test the applicant's knowledge of the provisions of section 291C-121.5 and section 291C-137; and

(4) The actual demonstration of ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle.

The examinations shall be appropriate to the operation of the category of motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be licensed and shall be conducted as required by the director.

The examiner of drivers shall require every applicant to comply with section 286-102.5.

The examiner of drivers may waive the actual demonstration of ability to operate a motorcycle or motor scooter for any person who furnishes evidence, to the satisfaction of the examiner of drivers, that the person has completed the motorcycle education course approved by the director in accordance with section 431:10G-104.

For the purposes of this section, the term "applicant" does not include any person reactivating a license under section 286-107.5(a).

(b) The examiner of drivers shall conduct the testing of an applicant to demonstrate the ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle pursuant to subsection (a)(4) in English or, upon request by the applicant, the following languages:

(1) Hawaiian;

(2) Japanese;

(3) Mandarin;

(4) Korean

(5) Spanish;

(6) Tagalog;

(7) Ilocano;

(8) Vietnamese

(9) Samoan

(10) Chuukese;

(11) Kosraean;

(12) Marshallese;

(13) Palauan;

(14) Pohnpeian; or

(15) Yapese.

[~~(b)~~] (c) The examiner of drivers shall require proof from every applicant under the age of eighteen that the applicant has completed a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation. The examiner of drivers shall not examine any applicant for a provisional license who is sixteen through seventeen years of age unless the applicant holds and has held a valid instruction permit under section 286-110, for a period of no fewer than one hundred eighty days. If the applicant's instruction permit has expired and a new instruction permit was issued within thirty days of its expiration, the examiner of drivers may examine the applicant without requiring an additional one hundred eighty day period.

[~~(c)~~] (d) The examiner of drivers may waive the written or oral examination required under subsection (a)(2) and (3) and the actual demonstration of ability to operate a motor vehicle for any person who:

(1) Is at least eighteen years of age and who possesses a valid driver's license issued to the applicant in any other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, a province of the Dominion of Canada, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for the operation of vehicles in categories 1 through 3 of section 286-102;

(2) Has completed the same requirements as set forth in section 286-102.6(f) in another state and possesses a valid provisional license from that state; or

(3) Is at least eighteen years of age and who possesses a valid driver's license issued to the applicant in any jurisdiction for which the director has granted reciprocal licensing privileges in accordance with section 286-101.5 for the operation of vehicles in category (3) of section 286-102(b).

[~~(d)~~] (e) As part of the examination required by this section, the applicant for a driver's license shall produce and display a valid motor vehicle or liability insurance identification card for the motor vehicle required by sections 431:10C-107 and 431:10G-106, when the applicant demonstrates the ability to operate a motor vehicle to the satisfaction of the examiner of drivers. If no valid motor vehicle or liability insurance identification card is displayed, the examiner of drivers shall not issue a driver's license to the applicant."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2116
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII