SB97 is a motor vehicle bill focused on automated speed enforcement. As amended, it changes how citations are issued when a vehicle is found to have violated Hawaii’s speed enforcement law under section 291C-108. The amendment removes language that would have limited enforcement to vehicles exceeding the posted speed limit by at least five miles per hour and removes the requirement that a summons or citation be mailed within ten calendar days of the incident. It also makes conforming renumbering changes to the bill’s remaining sections.
The bill’s broader effect is to update the procedures used by the State’s third-party contractor for automated speed enforcement, including how violations are identified and how notices are sent to registered owners. Because the bill is framed as a change to motor vehicle enforcement law, it affects drivers, vehicle owners, the contractor administering the system, and state agencies involved in licensing and traffic enforcement. The bill’s effective-date language in the amended citation provision indicates the new procedures are intended to apply beginning January 1, 2025.
Impact
SB97 amends the state’s automated speed enforcement framework by revising the citation-triggering language and notice requirements tied to section 291C-108. In practical terms, it broadens or clarifies the circumstances under which a citation may be issued and removes a specific mailing deadline that had governed how quickly notices had to be sent to registered owners. The bill therefore changes enforcement administration rather than creating a new traffic offense, and it affects the procedures used by the State’s third-party contractor, vehicle licensing records, and the mailing of citations to vehicle owners.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have generally favorable support in the legislative process, as reflected by multiple committee approvals and unanimous or near-unanimous conference votes. It passed the Senate Transportation and Culture and the Arts Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee with 3-1 votes, then passed both House and Senate conference with no opposition. The voting pattern suggests the measure was acceptable to most legislators, though not entirely without concern at earlier stages.
Contention
The main points of contention appear to have centered on automated enforcement policy itself, especially the threshold for issuing citations and the timing of notice to vehicle owners. The amendment language shows a policy choice to delete a five-mile-per-hour buffer and to remove the ten-day mailing deadline, which could be viewed as making enforcement more flexible or more aggressive. While the final conference votes were unanimous, the earlier 3-1 committee votes indicate at least one member had reservations about the bill’s approach to automated speed enforcement and citation procedures.