Question: Regarding the kupuna driver’s license, I am 79 years old and renewed my license for two years last February. Can I go again in January or February to get a four-year license knowing that I still have one more year on my current license?
Answer: No. You can renew your Hawaii driver’s license up to six months in advance of its expiration date, and keep the same expiration date (your birthday month and day), plus whatever number of years to which you are entitled. You can’t renew a year in advance — that’s too far ahead.
Like many Hawaii senior citizens, you are wanting to renew your driver’s license in 2023 but before you turn 80, so you’ll be eligible for the new four-year driver’s license that will be available to drivers ages 72 through 79. Until the updated state law takes effect next year, drivers 72 and older receive a two-year license.
Q: I heard they were extending the driver’s licenses for people over 72 starting next year. Will the expiration date be automatically extended like during the pandemic, without us having to go in to renew?
A: No. You must obtain or renew your driver’s license in 2023 or later through the regular application process. Eligible applicants ages 72 through 79 at the time they apply will receive a four-year license, rather than the two-year license now allowed, thanks to a change in state law that takes effect Jan. 1. The first of these licenses are expected to be issued Jan. 3, the first day of business in the new year.
The law doesn’t change the license duration for other age groups. Eligible drivers 80 and older will still receive a two-year license. Drivers ages 25 through 71 receive an eight-year license. Those under 25 get a four-year license, except for those holding provisional licenses, which expire on the person’s 19th birthday.
The driver’s license extensions you recalled were issued automatically for all ages for a certain period when Hawaii was governed under an emergency proclamation during the COVID-19 pandemic; that emergency period has ended.
Q: The city said it was sending out property tax assessments but I didn’t get mine.
A: Oahu property owners who don’t receive their 2023 Assessment Notice by Saturday should contact the city’s Real Property Assessment Division. Call 808-768-7000 or visit the Honolulu office at 842 Bethel St. (basement) or the Kapolei office at 1000 Uluohia St., No. 206, the city said in a news release.
Notices were sent on or before Dec. 15 by U.S. mail or by email (for property owners who subscribed to electronic delivery), the release said.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the thoughtful person who found my parking ticket and placed it on my windshield. This was at the parking structure at Hokua Tower. I had lunch at Panya and sat in my car wondering how much I would have to pay for my lost ticket and there it was. Thank you. — L.S.
Mahalo
My wife and I want to send a big mahalo to two men who came to our assistance on Dec. 3. We were visiting from L.A. and had a severe flat tire in Haleiwa at the intersection of Cane Haul Road and Kamehameha Highway. I pulled into a driveway, looking for a place where I could change the tire on the rental car, but then had a lot of trouble finding the proper spot under the Toyota’s frame to place the tire jack. That’s when two guys from North Shore Eco Tours came by and offered assistance. We didn’t get their names, but after looking up their website we think they were Keola Ryan and Keoki Naylon. Keola lay on his back to find the spot on the chassis to place the jack, then he and Keoki did most of the work to change the tire. They were a huge help in getting us on our way after a freak tire blowout! A big mahalo from us to Keola and Keoki for their outstanding aloha spirit! Thank you, guys! — Ray and Vivian Ihori
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
