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LIHUE » Hikers who ignore safety warning signs may have to pay the costs associated with their rescue under a new measure.
About 20 members of the public testified Wednesday on Kauai County Council Bill 2589, which would allow government agencies involved in search-and-rescue operations to seek reimbursement from people who blatantly disregard safety warnings and notices, The Garden Island reported Thursday.
At the meeting, Kauai residents questioned what constituted negligence under the bill.
Resident Kalyon Kubo asked what would happen if a person took a wrong turn on a trail, got lost and needed to be rescued.
"Was she negligent when she took that wrong turn? Think about it in that sense," he said.
Kauai County Councilman Mason Chock, who introduced the bill, said those who testified brought up good points. However, he wanted to emphasize the purpose of the bill is to identify those who intentionally disregard their own safety.
The bill’s purpose is to put "into alignment the verbiage of intentional disregard of safety, which is the same verbiage used in the state HRS (Hawaii Revised Statutes)."
The bill goes to the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.