Lingle signs bill that could
open state and county trails
Hikers and attorneys are hailing a new bill signed into law by Gov. Linda Lingle that could reopen state and county trails that have been closed because of liability concerns.
House Bill 1214 limits the state's liability when residents or visitors are injured in Hawaii parks and hiking trails.
The new law, according to state Attorney General Mark Bennett, will require the state to do an appropriate risk assessment and then create a plan for warning signs along public trails.
Legislature Directory
Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes
"It will assure both more safety for the public and fair protection for the state," Bennett said.
At a signing ceremony at the state Capitol yesterday, Patrick Rorie, vice president of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said: "I am ecstatic. In the present situation some of the finest hiking trails on Oahu are unavailable."
Lingle, who had submitted it as an administration bill, called it "an important step forward."
"If there is a sign up and people go there anyway and the hazard occurs, this would hold the taxpayers harmless," Lingle said.
Opponents to the measure included the Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii, which argued proper signage alone does not exempt the state from any responsibility.
Last year, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario ruled that the state was legally at fault for the injuries and deaths that occurred in the rockslide at Sacred Falls on Mother's Day 1999.
Eight people were killed and at least 40 were injured when boulders the size of compact cars crashed down on them.
Four families of the victims and others injured in the rockslide said the state was negligent in not warning visitors of possible rockfalls.
"In the exercise of due care, the state should have posted more specific warnings in the area of greatest risk and in a manner that would adequately impress visitors with the extent of risk involved," Del Rosario said in his ruling, which is under appeal.
After the accident, the state closed the 2.2-mile trial that led to an 87-foot waterfall. An estimated 70,000 persons a year had taken the hike up to the falls before the accident. The state also closed the nearby Maakua Gulch trail.
Lingle said that if her bill had not passed this year, the state would be forced to continue to limit access to state trails. There was no indication if the Sacred Falls trails would be opened.
The majority of state trails that are currently closed are on private land, meaning the new law likely will have no impact in those areas.
Two county mayors, Harry Kim of Hawaii and Bryan Baptiste of Kauai, were on hand for the ceremony yesterday.
They both praised the work done by the Legislature.
"We were in a position that we could not open up our public lands because of the fear of liability. This helps tremendously," Kim said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
