STAND. COM. REP. NO. 733-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2033

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2033, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to enhance roadway safety and traffic law enforcement by:

(1) Requiring sellers and licensed dealers to ensure that a motor vehicle is equipped with a front number plate mounting bracket or device;

(2) Amending certain provisions of the State Traffic Code relating to street racing and speed exhibitions;

(3) Expanding the Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program to high-risk locations, under certain conditions;

(4) Authorizing counties to use automatic license plate recognition systems to identify vehicles without current inspection or registration certificates and issue citations with waivable fines;

(5) Authorizing the installation of cameras on the stop arm of a school bus;

(6) Requiring the Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle Safety Office to administer the Photo Red Light Imaging Detector Systems Program Special Fund and Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program Special Fund; and

(7) Clarifying language relating to photo red light enforcement, automated speed enforcement, and penalty provisions.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Department of Transportation; Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu; Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; and four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and one individual.

Your Committee finds that between 2024 and 2025, traffic fatalities in Hawaii increased by twenty percent, with an increase of over sixty percent on Oahu during that time. This measure is intended to strengthen several critical areas of transportation safety and enforcement and ensure safe and efficient transportation systems across the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the seller, in addition to the licensed dealer or owner, is required to securely fasten the number plates on a vehicle;

(2) Repealing enhanced penalties for a person who overtakes or passes a school bus in a residential area when its visual signals are actuated; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for 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. 2033, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2033, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair