Bill takes aim at
excessive speedingPolice like the idea but
they and attorneys question
a provision
The state Senate Transportation Committee has approved a bill that would make excessive speeding a felony offense -- something police and prosecutors say could cut down on the number of traffic deaths caused by racing.
Two days after a grand jury issued a manslaughter indictment in a traffic collision believed to have been caused by racing, the committee sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill that makes speeding 30 miles over the posted speed limit a class C felony.
It is similar to a bill offered by the city Prosecutor's Office, which would criminalize speeding by charging a higher-level of crime with tougher penalties with each repeat offense. Right now, speeding has civil penalties.
At a news conference following the indictment of a Hawaii Kai man in the August 2001 death of Holy Trinity schoolteacher Elizabeth Kekoa, Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said his office is submitting its own bill because of the increasing number of deaths caused by motorists driving at excessive speeds
"The reason for that is if somebody is going 25 mph over the posted speed limit or if they're ever going 80 mph, there should be criminal sanctions," Carlisle said at the Wednesday news conference.
STAR-BULLETIN / AUGUST 2001
Prosecutors say street racing was behind the Aug. 26, 2001, death of teacher Elizabeth Kekoa, who was riding in this van when it was allegedly hit by Nicholas Tudisco, then 18. Tudisco was indicted this week for manslaughter.
The committee-approved bill, authored by Committee Chairman Cal Kawamoto (D, Waipahu), would make speeding 30 mph over the speed limit punishable by up to five years in prison, a mandatory $10,000 fine and one year driver's license suspension.
The bill also would increase the license suspension to three years and subject the speeder's vehicle to civil forfeiture for an offense that occurs within five years of a previous conviction.
The state Office of the Public Defender opposed the measure, declaring the proposed penalties excessive.
"There is no requirement under this bill that the racing incident cause death or serious bodily injury.
Making this offense a Class C felony would equate the offense to such offenses as negligent homicide in the second degree, assault in the second degree, assault against a law enforcement officer in the first degree, terroristic threatening in the first degree, sexual assault in the third degree, to name just a few," said Jack Tonaki, state public defender.
He also said the forfeiture provision creates a sentencing disparity because some vehicles are worth more than others.
Honolulu police also raised questions about inadequate resources to enforce the forfeiture provision.
Nicholas Tudisco was indicted on a manslaughter charge in the Aug. 26, 2001, crash on the H-1 freeway just before the 6th Avenue offramp in Kaimuki.
Police and prosecutors say Tudisco, then 18, was racing on the freeway at more than 100 mph when his car crashed into the rear of a van in which Kekoa was riding.
The speed limit on that portion of the freeway is 50 mph.
Tudisco, who plays baseball at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, will waive extradition and return to Hawaii to face the manslaughter charge, said Michael Green, his attorney.
He will also seek to reduce his $100,000 bail, which Green said is excessive.
Star-Bulletin reporter Debra Barayuga contributed to this report.
