STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2144

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2026

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. 2026 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 require drivers of vehicles approaching stationary motor vehicles stopped on the shoulder or roadside due to a traffic collision or vehicle maintenance or mechanical problem to slow down and make a lane change if necessary.

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 Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that individuals stranded in or near disabled vehicles are at greater risk for traffic fatalities. Your Committee further finds that while existing law requires drivers to slow down and move over to safely pass emergency vehicles, it does not require drivers to do so for all other vehicles. Accordingly, this measure will improve roadway safety by requiring drivers approaching stationary motor vehicles to slow down and, if necessary, make a lane change to safely pass the stationary vehicle.

Your Committee notes the concern raised by the Department of the Attorney General that the requirement that the stationary vehicle be stopped on the shoulder or roadside does not include a vehicle that is stopped on a roadway and that cannot be immediately moved to the shoulder or roadside or when no shoulder exists. Your Committee further notes the concern raised by the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization that language is needed specifying that a reasonable and prudent speed is necessary in the event that a lane change is not possible. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address these concerns.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that a driver shall slow down when approaching a stationary vehicle that is stopped in any location on the roadway, shoulder, or roadside;

(2) Specifying that a driver approaching a stationary vehicle shall slow to a speed not to exceed twenty miles per hour below the maximum speed limit on certain roadways;

(3) Specifying that a driver approaching a stationary vehicle shall slow to a speed not to exceed five miles per hour on certain roadways;

(4) Deleting the definition of "stationary vehicle";

(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. 2026, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2026, 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