Bill Text: HI HB158 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Uninsured Motor Vehicles; Right to Sue

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [HB158 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HB158-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO.  238

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

 

RE:   H.B. No. 158

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 158 entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to encourage Hawaii's motor vehicle operators to obtain and maintain motor vehicle insurance, as required under Hawaii law, by:

 

     (1)  Prohibiting a driver of an uninsured motor vehicle involved in an accident from maintaining any action for damages against any other person for the driver's injuries or death arising out of the accident;

 

     (2)  Allowing a passenger injured in an uninsured motor vehicle involved in an accident to sue only the operator of that vehicle; and

 

     (3)  Repealing the statutory provision which imposes a $1,000 fee in lieu of any fine which could have been levied as a criminal penalty for failing to obtain motor vehicle insurance.

 

     The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America and GEICO testified in support of this bill.  State Farm Insurance Companies testified in support of the intent of this measure.  The Hawaii Association for Justice testified in opposition to this measure.  The Insurance Commissioner provided comments.

 

     Under current law, individuals who own a motor vehicle in Hawaii must insure that motor vehicle.  Unfortunately, many individuals fail or refuse to abide by this legal requirement.  This situation could lead to inequitable results in a motor vehicle accident in which a driver of an uninsured vehicle could recover damages from drivers of legally insured motor vehicles while drivers who are legally insured would not be able to do the same with respect to the uninsured driver.  This measure attempts to correct this situation.

 

     However, several concerns were raised regarding the reasonableness and possible unintended consequences of this measure.  Your Committee notes that under these provisions, it appears that drivers or occupants of an uninsured motor vehicle who are injured by persons such as at fault drivers, criminally negligent drivers, and reckless drivers, would be prohibited from filing claims even if the individual did not know the vehicle was uninsured.  While these concerns are noted, your Committee finds that this issue deserves further consideration and that these concerns are beyond the purview of your Committee on Transportation and asks that your Committee on Judiciary review this matter more closely.

 

     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 H.B. No. 158 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committees on Judiciary and Consumer Protection & Commerce.

 

 

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

 

 

____________________________ JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair