STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2445

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2010

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 2010 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the impoundment of motor vehicles when certain traffic violations have been alleged or committed.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the impoundment of vehicles offers a strong deterrent to dangerous traffic offenses and provides courts with a proportionate alternative to fines or incarcerations. Expanding the grounds for impoundment to include driving under the influence, failure to stop after accidents, specific traffic violations, and repeated traffic offenses would deter dangerous driving behaviors and prevent traffic violations. This measure will provide clear procedures for impoundment, towing, storage, and disposal to enhance road safety and prove law enforcement with an additional tool to address serious traffic violations.

Your Committee notes the concern raised by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu that the impoundment of a vehicle should only be employed for traffic offenses rather than traffic infractions. Therefore, amendments to the measure are necessary to address this concern.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to prohibit a law enforcement officer from allowing a driver to resume operation of a vehicle if the law enforcement officer lawfully stops the motor vehicle and cites the driver for operating the vehicle without a valid license;

(2) Inserting language to require that a vehicle involved in a stop be moved by a licensed driver or towed at the owner's expense;

(3) Inserting language to require that a cited driver be responsible for arranging the operator's transportation from the scene of the stop;

(4) Deleting language that would have subjected a vehicle operator to impoundment if the operator was alleged to have violated certain traffic infractions;

(5) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

(6) 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 Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2010, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2010, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair