STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1474-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2463

S.D. 1

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 S.B. No. 2463, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE USE OF INTOXICANTS WHILE OPERATING A VEHICLE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to lower the blood alcohol content threshold for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor; Department of Transportation; Department of Health; Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawaiʻi; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui; Honolulu Police Department; Hawaiʻi Bicycling League; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Hina Mauka; Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; FIA Foundation; Kids and Car Safety; Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii; National Safety Council; Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research; Liam's Life Foundation; .05 Saves Lives Coalition; Trauma Foundation; SAFE Coalition; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; National Transportation Safety Board; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; Lanikai Brewing Company; Big Island Brewhaus; Maui Wine, Ltd.; Maui Chamber of Commerce; Wine Institute; and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers.

Your Committee finds that impaired driving continues to pose a significant threat to public safety on Hawaii's roadways. Research demonstrates that drivers may experience reduced coordination, impaired judgment, and slower reaction times at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05., which is lower than the current legal limit of 0.08. Your Committee further finds that alcohol-impaired driving accounts for a significant percentage of traffic fatalities in Hawaii and that lowering the legal blood alcohol concentration limit can serve as a general deterrent. Accordingly, this measure lowers the blood alcohol concentration threshold for the offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant to promote safer roadways and help prevent alcohol-related crashes, injuries, and deaths.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

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

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. 2463, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2463, S.D. 1, 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