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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 25, 2002

Racing bill won't reach finish line

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A bill that would have increased penalties for drivers who race, including confiscating cars from repeat offenders, appears dead this session.

House and Senate negotiators yesterday deferred the issue indefinitely after failing to reach an agreement on Senate Bill 2337. The Senate wanted to confiscate cars on the third racing offense, but House negotiators refused, raising concerns that racers may be driving someone else's car.

The racing problem drew more concern last year because of a fatal accident in August. Elizabeth Kekoa was killed when her van was struck by a car that police said was racing on H-1 Freeway. The accident was one of more than a dozen racing-related fatalities on O'ahu since 1995.

Sen. Cal Kawamoto said that after last year's fatal accident police said law enforcement officials need the authority to take away the cars from drivers who race.

House negotiators offered raising racing penalties to include a fine of up to $2,000, a one-year prison term or both for drivers who exceed the speed limit by 30 mph. The House also offered to increase the amount of time a driver's license may be suspended with the second and third offense. But the House's offer stopped short of confiscating cars on the third racing offense, a provision that Senate negotiator Kawamoto insisted be included.

Present penalties for racing include a $500 fine, six months jail or both.

House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairman Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (S. Hilo, Puna), told Kawamoto the question is whether lawmakers let the issue go unaddressed for another year or at least increase the penalties for racing with the House's proposal. Hamakawa also raised the problem that all three racing offenses may be with three different cars.

But Kawamoto, D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), said judges would have been given discretion over whether to confiscate cars or not.