STAND. COM. REP. NO. 435-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2516

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 2516 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HELMETS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Increase the age of an individual who is required to wear a helmet for electric foot scooters and bicycles; and

(2) Prohibit a person from operating a high-speed electric bicycle unless that person wears a helmet.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Department of Health; AAA Hawaiʻi; and Hawaiʻi Bicycling League.

Your Committee finds that the increasing use of electric foot scooters, bicycles, and electric bicycles on public roadways presents heightened risks of head injuries, particularly among youth. Existing law requires helmet use only for individuals under sixteen years of age, despite evidence that older adolescents remain vulnerable to serious injury when operating these devices. By raising the minimum age for mandatory helmet use to under eighteen years of age and requiring helmet use for all operators of electric bicycles and other electric devices, this measure enhances protections for young riders and supports safer transportation practices statewide.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that no person shall operate or hire out to another person any class of electric bicycle or electric micro-mobility device, rather than a high-speed electric bicycle, unless that person, or the person to whom it is being hired out, is properly wearing a helmet, including defining certain terms;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee further requests the Department of Transportation to examine the expanded use of helmets for other similar electric mobility devices.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2516, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2516, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

DARIUS KILA, Chair