Bill Text: HI HB1848 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mopeds; Registration; Inspections
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-27 - Referred to TRN, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 2 [HB1848 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HB1848-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1848 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to mopeds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that mopeds provide an inexpensive, reliable, and convenient means of transportation. Although mopeds are subject to a thirty mile-per-hour speed limitation, they are a suitable means of transportation for many residents. Mopeds have low maintenance and gasoline costs, and have no requirements for insurance, safety inspections, or a class 2 motorcycle license. Mopeds are regulated similar to bicycles, and can travel in vehicle or bicycle lanes, but not on freeways.
The legislature further finds that mopeds can be illegally modified and converted to a speed above what is legally allowable by law, without incurring additional costs and requirements for insurance and a safety inspection. However, because key enforcement statutes do not include mopeds, law enforcement officials lack the necessary means to curtail the number of illegally modified mopeds.
The legislature further finds that illegally altered mopeds have had a detrimental impact on neighborhoods, as the mopeds often emit excessively loud noises that disturb residents. On Oahu, numerous complaints have been received at neighborhood board meetings for many years, especially in the last decade. Many community leaders are aware that new laws alone will not solve the illegal moped noise problem and are planning collaborative efforts with the county police departments.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Prohibit the use of unsafe, improperly equipped, and illegally modified mopeds;
(2) Require annual safety inspections for mopeds; and
(3) Increase fines for moped violations of the law.
SECTION 2. Chapter 286, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§286- Number plates for mopeds; registration. (a) The director shall cause to be produced number plates and tags or emblems for the registration of mopeds operated in the State.
(b) The director shall number and register the moped in the owner's name in a permanent record or book to be kept by the director for this purpose, and shall furnish the owner thereof with a receipt showing upon its face the license number issued for the moped. The registration fee shall be $ per year. The director shall also furnish the owner, upon the original registration of the moped, one plate with the registration number marked thereon. Upon the payment of a registration fee for each year, a tag or emblem bearing a serial number and the month and year of expiration shall be provided to the owner. Transfer of current number plates, tag, or emblem, except as authorized by this chapter, is punishable by a fine of not more than $50 for each offense.
(c) Upon an original registration the director shall fix, and shall charge to the owner, a fee equal to the cost of the number plate and tag or emblem plus the administrative cost of furnishing the plate and tag or emblem and effecting the registration. Upon the issuance of a new series of number plates, the director shall charge the owner a fee equal to the costs of the number plate plus the administrative cost of furnishing the plate. Upon issuing a tag or emblem, the director shall charge the owner a fee of 50 cents. The owner shall securely fasten the number plate on the rear of the moped at a location provided by the manufacturer or in the absence of such a location upon the bumper of the moped and in conformance with section 291-31, in such a manner as to prevent the plate from swinging. The number plate shall at all times be displayed entirely unobscured and be kept reasonably clean.
(d) Upon the issuance of the tag or emblem, the owner shall affix the tag or emblem to the top right portion of the rear number plate.
(e) After the initial payment of the registration fee and the original registration of a moped as specified in this section, a moped shall not be required to be reweighed in any succeeding year unless it has been so altered or changed as to increase or diminish its weight. No new number plate shall, however, be issued to a new owner.
(f) If an owner of a moped registered in any county, upon the disposition of the moped, requests that the number plate furnished to the owner with respect to the registration of the moped be assigned to another moped subsequently acquired by the owner, the assignment may be made by the director at the director's discretion. To defray additional administrative costs incurred by acceding to those requests, the director shall charge a fee of $5 for each reassignment of number plate, in addition to the fee for registration. The procedure for registering the mopeds shall otherwise be identical with that provided by this section."
SECTION 3. Section 286-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§286-21 Vehicles and mopeds
without required equipment or in unsafe condition. No person shall drive
or cause to move on any highway any motor vehicle, moped, trailer,
semitrailer, or pole trailer, or any combination thereof, unless the equipment
thereon is in good working order and adjustment as required in this part [so
as not to] and does not endanger the driver or other occupant or any
person upon the highway."
SECTION 4. Section 286-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a), (b), and (c) to read as follows:
"(a) The chief of police or any police officer of any county may, at any time when the chief of police or police officer has reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle or moped is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, require the owner or driver of the vehicle or moped to submit the vehicle or moped to an inspection or make the necessary corrections or repairs.
(b) If the vehicle or moped is found to be in an unsafe condition or if any required part or equipment is not present or if any required part or equipment is present but not in proper repair, the officer shall issue a citation to the owner or driver stating the reasons that the vehicle or moped is deemed unsafe or is not equipped as required and shall require that a new certificate of inspection as provided in section 286-26 be obtained within five days or that the defect be cured.
(c) If upon inspection, the chief of police or
any police officer determines that any vehicle or moped is in such
unsafe condition as to constitute a menace to the public or is not equipped
as required and cannot reasonably be restored to a safe condition as
required in this part, the chief of police or police officer shall remove the
sticker which signifies the certificate of inspection and inform the director
of finance who shall [forthwith] immediately suspend the
registration of the vehicle or moped and give notice of the suspension
to its owner. Whenever the director of finance has suspended the registration
of any vehicle or moped under this part, the owner of the vehicle or
moped shall immediately surrender and forward to the director of finance
the certificate of registration and the license plates last issued upon
registration of the vehicle for the current year."
SECTION 5. Section 286-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) No person shall operate any vehicle or
moped after receiving a citation with reference thereto as provided in
section 286-22(b), except that if the driver is authorized to do so by the
police officer, the driver may return the vehicle or moped to the
driver's residence or place of business or the residence or place of business
of the owner of the vehicle[,] or moped, or to an automotive
repair shop, if within a distance of twenty miles, until a certificate of
inspection is obtained or the necessary corrections or repairs are made."
SECTION 6. Section 286-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§286-25 Operation of a vehicle or moped without a certificate of inspection. Whoever operates, permits the operation of, causes to be operated, or parks any vehicle or moped on a public highway without a current official certificate of inspection, issued under section 286-26, shall be fined not more than $100."
SECTION 7. Section 286-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows:
"(b) All other vehicles, including motorcycles, mopeds, trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, and antique motor vehicles as defined in section 249-1, except those in subsections (c) and (d), shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) every twelve months; provided that any vehicle to which this subsection applies, except a moped, shall not require inspection within two years of the date on which the vehicle was first sold.
(c) Any vehicle or moped that has been involved in an accident shall be certified as provided in subsection (e) before it is operated again if:
(1) It is determined by a police officer or an insurer that the vehicle's or moped's equipment has been damaged so as to render the vehicle or moped unsafe; or
(2) It is rebuilt or restored.
(d) Every vehicle or moped shall be certified prior to the issuance of a temporary or permanent registration by the director of finance and prior to the transfer of any registration; provided that this requirement shall not apply to a subsequent transfer of registration in a vehicle or moped that carries a current certificate of inspection.
(e) Upon application for a certificate of
inspection to be issued for a vehicle[,] or moped, an inspection
as prescribed by the director under subsection (g) shall be conducted on the
vehicle[,] or moped, and if the vehicle or moped is found
to be in a safe operating condition, a certificate of inspection shall be
issued upon payment of a fee to be determined by the director. The certificate
shall state the effective date, the termination date, the name of the issuing
insurance carrier, and the policy number of the motor vehicle insurance identification
card for the inspected motor vehicle as specified by section 431:10C-107 or
state the information contained in the proof of insurance card as specified by
section 431:10G-106. A sticker, authorized by the director, shall be affixed
to the vehicle or moped at the time a certificate of inspection is
issued. An inspection sticker which has been lost, stolen, or destroyed shall
be replaced without reinspection by the inspection station that issued the
original inspection sticker upon presentation of the [vehicle's] current
certificate of inspection; provided that the current certificate of inspection
and inspection sticker shall not have expired at the time the replacement is
requested. The director shall adopt rules to determine the fee for replacement
of lost, stolen, or destroyed inspection stickers."
SECTION 8. Section 291-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§291-22 Regulation of exhaust
pipe and muffler. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive upon the
public highways any motor scooter[,] or moped, as defined in
section 286-2, the exhaust pipe or muffler of which has been so changed from
the factory design as to increase the volume or audibility of the explosions
within the motor thereof."
SECTION 9. Section 291-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§291-23 Penalty. Whoever is convicted of violating any of the provisions of section 291-22 with regard to a motor scooter shall be fined not more than $100. Whoever is convicted of violating any of the provisions of section 291-22 with regard to a moped shall be fined not more than $500."
SECTION 10. Section 291-24, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) Whoever violates this section shall
be fined not more than [$100.] $500."
SECTION 11. Section 291C-202, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) [The director of transportation
by rules and regulations, pursuant to chapter 91, shall establish criteria and
procedures for the annual safety inspection of every moped.] The annual
safety inspection of every moped shall be conducted in accordance with section
286-26. Safety inspection criteria shall include the criteria established
by the director of transportation under subsection (b)."
SECTION 12. Section 291C-206, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) Any person who violates this section
shall be fined not more than [$500.] $1,000."
SECTION 13. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 14. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 15. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Mopeds; Registration; Inspections
Description:
Requires registration, inspections, and number plates for mopeds. Increases or imposes fines related to mopeds.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
