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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, April 6, 2003

Lingle vetoes dune-buggy exemption measure

Associated Press

Gov. Linda Lingle has vetoed her first bill, a measure that would have exempted dune buggies from reconstructed vehicle laws.

The bill introduced by Senate Transportation Committee chairman Cal Kawamoto, D-18th (Waipahu, Crestview, Pearl City) passed the Senate and House without amendments. It would have allowed dune buggies to drive on public roads without having to comply with either federal safety standards or Hawai'i reconstructed-vehicle law.

In her veto message, Lingle said she objected to the bill for public- safety reasons.

Dune buggies are typically less expensive than most special-interest vehicles and are more likely to be driven by young people, she said.

"For the safety of those young people and the public generally, another category of unsafe vehicles on the public roads should not be permitted," Lingle said in her message to the Legislature.

"The public's safety should not be sacrificed simply for the sake of eliminating a perceived disparity between the different types of vehicles," she said.