STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3743

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1692

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1692, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, 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:

(1) Require drivers approaching stationary vehicles displaying warning signals to slow down and make a lane change if possible and safe to do so and come to a complete stop if necessary;

(2) Prohibit the operation of a pickup truck with a passenger seated in the bed or load-carrying area on roadways with posted speed limits of forty-six miles per hour or higher and roadways with three or more lanes traveling in the same direction;

(3) Provide certain exemptions from passenger restrictions; and

(4) Increase the minimum age to ride in the bed or load-carrying area of a pickup truck while in operation from twelve years of age to eighteen years of age.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, AAA Hawaiʻi, and Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committee finds that existing move-over regulations specifically apply to tow trucks and certain public agency vehicles. Most motorists are unaware of exactly when these regulations apply, creating ambiguity. This measure will expand the existing protections for tow trucks and emergency vehicles to include all vehicles in distress to clarify move-over regulations and reduce traffic fatalities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that if a lane change is not possible or safe, a driver approaching a stationary vehicle shall slow to a reasonable and prudent speed;

(2) Inserting a severability clause; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1692, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1692, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair