Bill would cut safety check frequency

A bill that would relax the state’s annual motor vehicle safety check requirement to allow vehicles on the neighbor islands to be inspected just once every two years has won the approval of the key House Consumer Protection Committee.

House Bill 1089 originally would have allowed all motorists in Hawaii to drive legally for two years before undergoing safety inspections, but House Consumer Protection Chairman Angus Mc-Kelvey amended the bill Wednesday to exclude Oahu vehicles from the measure.

McKelvey (D, Lahaina-Kaanapali-Honokohau) said he believes many of the corrections made during safety inspections are "cosmetic," and said inspections every two years should be enough for the neighbor islands.

Other states have dropped safety inspection requirements, and Mc-Kelvey said he hasn’t seen any evidence that ending inspections made highways in other states more dangerous than roadways in Hawaii.

McKelvey also said his committee heard testimony suggesting there are relatively few service stations offering to perform safety checks on the neighbor islands, while the state Department of Transportation reported more than 300 safety inspection locations operating on Oahu.

The bill is opposed by a number of Maui service station owners as well as the state Department of Transportation, which warned in written testimony that "each year thousands of defects are identified and corrected" because of the annual safety inspections.

Safety inspections during 2014 identified 8,886 Hawaii motorists without insurance, 9,520 with defective tires, 5,026 with defective brake lights and 2,921 with faulty headlights, according to statistics compiled by state DOT. Another 106,407 motorists had expired registrations that were caught during safety inspections.

"These defects, based on the model year of the vehicle, if left unchecked for a two-year period, could potentially place vehicles that are unsafe on our roads," according to testimony from the Transportation Department. "Requiring motorists to submit to a motor vehicle inspection once every two years would allow those motorists who do not take the maintenance of their vehicle seriously to allow their vehicles to go unchecked for the entire two-year period."

State Rep. Sharon Har (D, Kapo­lei-Maka­kilo) said she also opposes the bill. While relaxing the inspection requirement might be more convenient for consumers, "the fact of the matter is that safety checks are there for health and safety, and to ensure that drivers and their vehicles are safe."

Even with annual inspections, Har said, commuters from West Oahu frequently encounter stalled vehicles and accidents on the freeway, and every minute of an accident or stalled vehicle causes 10 minutes of backlogged traffic.

"To now extend the safety checks for two years concerns me because I think it could further exacerbate the amounts of stalls and other types of accidents that could potentially occur on the freeway, and exacerbate traffic," she said.

"More importantly, this is the committee on Consumer Protection, not consumer endangerment,. That’s really my concern," she said. "I do think this is an issue of health and safety."

The bill now goes to the full House for a floor vote, and if approved will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.