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Wednesday, February 2, 2000



Legislature 2000


Anzai’s bill holds
reckless drivers liable

Legislature briefs

By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press

Tapa

In the early hours of Feb. 22, 1994, two female passengers were killed when a speeding car driven by a drunken driver being chased by police ran off Kauai's Kuhio Highway, up a guard rail and into a utility pole.

Because of that accident and a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling last June, Hawaii's taxpayers will pay $1.7 million to the women's families and a third passenger who was seriously injured.

Attorney General Earl Anzai, who forwarded the $1.7 million judgment to the Legislature for approval, also asked lawmakers to protect the state and counties' pocketbooks in cases of future accidents involving careless and unsafe drivers.

The Supreme Court in June upheld a Circuit Court ruling that the state, in addition to the driver, was liable in the accident because it had not improved the guardrail "up to contemporary engineering standards" when it resurfaced the highway in 1990.

The Supreme Court's decision "overruled long-standing and respected precedent of the same court, and placed upon the state duties that we regard as unfair and inappropriate," Anzai's department said in urging a change to the law.

The administration's bill recognizes "that the state owes a duty to make its highways reasonably safe for drivers who exercise reasonable care in driving their vehicles," the department said.

"This bill will prevent the potentially unlimited payments from the public (treasury) for damages arising out of the reckless and wanton acts of drivers on state highways," it said.

The bill says the state "owes no duty to make a highway reasonably safe for vehicles traveling in excess of the speed limit unless the speed is within 10 miles per hour of the speed limit or the speed advisory, whichever is less."

It would also protect the state and counties in accidents caused by drivers who fall asleep at the wheel, are intoxicated or otherwise lose control because of failure to exercise reasonable care.

Robert Toyofuku of Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii said his organization will oppose the bill.

"The state and the counties have a duty, absolutely, to make their highways safe for those who use them," he said. "Even if I'm driving recklessly, the highway still has to be safe."

It's up to a court or jury to determine how much a motorist's actions contributed to the accident in determining who is liable for the accident, he said.


Briefly


By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
WHERE'S BEN? Gov. Ben Cayetano poses with
the Aiea High School Varsity Pep Squad during
yesterday's Drug-Free Hawaii rally at the state Capitol.



ON APPEAL: The state plans to appeal a ruling that says a 1999 state law freezing state-union negotiations over pay raises is unconstitutional, according to Gov. Ben Cayetano.

The governor said yesterday he wants the Hawaii Supreme Court to review the case because last week's ruling by Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall has serious budget implications for the state and because it challenges the authority of the Legislature to set guidelines for collective bargaining of public workers.

For example, the Legislature has excluded judges, state attorneys and managers from collective bargaining.

"We believe the state can limit collective bargaining under certain circumstances, and the law that was passed by the Legislature, basically, we believe was a proper exercise," Cayetano said.

The 1999 law placed a two-year freeze on negotiations between the state and public sector unions over cost items, including wages.

But Cayetano said the state cannot afford to pay for raises for public workers. He warned if arbitrators award a 2 percent pay increase for all state employees, it would cost $286 million over the next four years, resulting in a budget shortfall of $198 million by mid-2003.

AND IF YOU LIVE IN YOUR VAN? Home addresses will be required on state vehicle registration forms to help people find the owner of a car, under a bill passed by the state House yesterday.

House Bill 1768 cites occasions when the owner of a vehicle cannot be found because the vehicle has been registered under the business address of the legal owner, which is often a lending institution, rather than the home address of the owner, the individual who purchased and registered the vehicle.

The measure, one of the first bills to pass the House this session, now goes to the Senate for discussion.

PRIMO CROPS: Protection of the state's agricultural lands will be the focal point of a joint House-Senate conference Saturday at the State Capitol auditorium.

Lawmakers will meet with state and county officials, agricultural interest groups, landowners and the public to discuss how to protect important agricultural lands, as required by the state Constitution.

The information received will help set policy for lawmakers this session. Senate Economic Development Chairwoman Lorraine Inouye (D, Hilo) said the state needs to identify prime agricultural lands so farmers can grow the best quality crops, while at the same time it protects these lands for future generations.

The conference is from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call 586-7335 for more information.



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