Traffic safety
bills revived

A cell phone ban, teen license
change and booster seats all
advance in the House

Legislators want Hawaii drivers to put down that cell phone and focus on the road.

Several traffic safety bills -- including one that bans cell phone use while driving -- that fell short of becoming law in recent years have been revived in 2005.

Star-Bulletin Legislature Database Star-Bulletin Legislature Guide (PDF, 1.9 MB) State Legislature: Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes

Measures calling for graduated licenses for Hawaii's teenage drivers, car booster seats for youngsters and a ban on hand-held cell phones while driving all made it out of the House Committee on Transportation yesterday.

After several years of presenting and amending transportation safety-related bills, Hawaii now has some momentum to push them through, said Rodney Haraga, state Department of Transportation director.

And the department is interested in supporting "anything that can protect the public from itself," he said.

Haraga said he does not have a stance on the hand-held cell phone ban because studies have been inconclusive on whether they cause more accidents than other distractions.

Cell phone bans have come up before, in the Honolulu City Council and in the state Legislature, where a similar bill was stopped in committee in 2000.

"Personally, I don't know. I use hands-free," Haraga said.

But his department is planning to support a proposed law to make it tougher for teens to become full-fledged drivers, he said.

This year's graduated- license bill is similar to legislation that failed in 2004. Teens would need to complete a three-stage program to get their licenses, and late-night driving would be curtailed except for trips to and from school activities and work.

Thirty-eight states have similar laws, which allow young drivers to "get more experience, so you don't become a fatality on the road," Haraga said.

Children that are too big for a car seat and too small to fit properly under a seat belt need to be strapped into booster seats, according to supporters of a new bill that would require the seats for 5- to 8-year-olds under 4 feet 9 inches tall.

A similar measure was vetoed in 2001 by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano. Opponents had said such a law would be a burden for large families and give government a responsibility that should belong to parents.

Seat belts designed for adults can actually harm a child in an accident because they do not fit properly, said Dr. Linda Rosen, deputy director of health resources administration for the state Department of Health.

While educating parents about the safety benefits of booster seats can help, the force of a law has a quicker result, Rosen said.

"The law helps to speed the process," she said.