While some House members were worried about the bill's impact on small businesses, Consumer Protection Chairman Ron Menor (D, Mililani) said it would provide much needed relief to the high premiums Hawaii drivers pay under the current modified no-fault system.

"I say, let's give this bill a try - let's give it a chance," the legislator urged his colleagues yesterday. "What have we got to lose?"

Among the key provisions of the bill, which passed 46-1:

All insurers starting Jan. 1 must cut their rates on minimum coverage for personal injury protection, bodily injury, property damage, and uninsured or underinsured motorists, and freeze the rates until the end of the year.

Minimum liability coverage would be capped at $30,000 per accident.

The minimum required medical coverage would be reduced to $3,000, with medical expenses above that shifted to a victim's prepaid health plan.

The $13,000 medical threshold, seen as one of the factors driving costs up, would be eliminated. Accident victims will be allowed to sue for damages before their medical costs reach that amount.

Courts, though, would be required to cut tort liability awards by $5,000, to discourage minor or frivolous claims.

The measures, however, weren't accompanied by a bill that would increase liquor taxes. It was quashed yesterday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which advanced the other proposals.