Bill Text: HI HB1629 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Motor Vehicle Regulation; Mopeds; Motor Scooters

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [HB1629 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HB1629-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1629
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to motorized vehicles.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 249-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

     ""Motor scooter" has the same meaning as defined in section 286-2."

     SECTION 2.  Section 249-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-7  Number plates.  (a)  Upon receipt of the tax the director of finance shall number and register the vehicle, moped, or motor scooter in the owner's name in a permanent record or book to be kept by the director for this purpose, and shall furnish the owner thereof with a receipt showing upon its face the license number issued for the vehicle, moped, or motor scooter and the fact that the license tax has been paid thereon for the whole or the remainder of the current year in which the receipt is issued.  The director of finance shall also furnish the owner, upon the original registration of the vehicle, moped or motor scooter, two number plates for the vehicle or one plate in the case of trailers, semitrailers, [or] motorcycles, mopeds, or motor scooters with the registration number marked thereon.  Upon the payment of the tax for each year a tag or emblem bearing a serial number and the month and year of expiration shall be provided to the owner.  Transfer of current number plates, tag, or emblem, except as authorized by this chapter or by chapter 286, is punishable by a fine of not more than $50 for each offense.

     (b)  Upon an original registration the director of finance shall fix, and shall charge to the owner, a fee equal to the cost of the number plate and tag or emblem plus the administrative cost of furnishing the plate and tag or emblem and effecting the registration.  Upon the issuance of a new series of number plates as determined by the directors of finance of each county through majority consent, the director of finance shall charge the owner a fee equal to the costs of the number plate plus the administrative cost of furnishing the plates.  Upon issuing a tag or emblem, the director of finance shall charge the owner a fee of 50 cents.  The owner shall securely fasten the number plates on the vehicle, one on the front and the other on the rear, at a location provided by the manufacturer or in the absence of such a location upon the bumpers of the vehicle and in conformance with section 291-31, in such a manner as to prevent the plates from swinging.  Number plates shall at all times be displayed entirely unobscured and be kept reasonably clean.  In the case of trailers, semitrailers, [or] motorcycles, mopeds, or motor scooters, one plate shall be used and it shall be fastened to the rear thereof at a location provided by the manufacturer or in the absence of such a location at the rear thereof, and in the case of motorcycles in conformance with section 291-31.

     (c)  Upon the issuance of the tag or emblem the owner shall affix the tag or emblem to the top right portion of the rear number plate, except that all vehicles owned by the State, any county government, any board of water supply, and official representatives of any foreign governments shall be issued registrations which need be renewed only in the new plate issue year.

     (d)  After the initial payment of the tax and the original registration of a vehicle, moped, or motor scooter as herein specified, a motor vehicle, moped, or motor scooter shall not be required to be reweighed in any succeeding year unless it has been so altered or changed as to increase or diminish its weight.  No new number plates shall, however, be issued to a new owner except as provided in sections 249-7.5 and 249-8.

     (e)  If an owner of a vehicle, moped, or motor scooter registered in any county, upon the disposition of the vehicle, moped, or motor scooter, requests that the license plates furnished to the owner with respect to the registration of the vehicle, moped, or motor scooter be assigned to another vehicle subsequently acquired by the owner, the assignment may be made by the director of finance at the director's discretion.  To defray additional administrative costs incurred by acceding to those requests, the director of finance shall charge a fee of $5 for each reassignment of license plates, in addition to the fee for registration.  The procedure for registering the vehicles, mopeds, or motor scooters shall otherwise be identical with that provided by this section."

     SECTION 3.  Section 249-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-14  Bicycle [and Moped] Fee.  (a)  Bicycles having two tandem wheels that are twenty inches or more in diameter [and all mopeds] are required to be registered and shall be subject to a permanent registration fee of $15, to be paid by the owners thereof to the director of finance.

     (b)  An owner of a bicycle having two tandem wheels that are less than twenty inches in diameter is not required to register such bicycle, but may do so to facilitate the return of recovered stolen bicycles by payment of the registration fee.  The fee collected shall not be refunded or prorated.  Upon receipt of the fee, the director of finance shall number and register each bicycle [and moped] for which the fee is paid, in the owner's name and furnish the owner with a metallic tag or decal for each bicycle [or moped] which shall be attached to the bicycle [or moped].  On bicycles the decal shall be affixed to the upright post attached to the sprocket facing in the forward direction.  [On mopeds the decal shall be affixed to the lower portion of the rear fender facing rearward.]  Upon initial registration by an owner or transferee, the director of finance shall require proof of ownership and require the owner to furnish verification of the serial number and description contained in the proof of ownership and application for registration.  The metallic tags or decals shall be in a form as the director of finance shall from time to time prescribe.  It shall be the duty of the director of finance of each county to purchase a sufficient number of these tags or decals.

     (c)  All fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the bikeway fund and shall be expended in the county in which the fees are collected as provided in section 249-17.5."

     SECTION 4.  Section 249-14.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§249-14.2[]]  Procedure when registration of a bicycle [or moped] transferred.  (a)  Upon transfer of registered ownership in or to a bicycle [or moped], the person whose interest is to be transferred and the transferee shall write their signatures with pen and ink upon the certificate of registration issued for the bicycle [or moped], together with the address of the transferee in the appropriate space provided upon the certificate.

     (b)  Within thirty calendar days of the transfer of registered ownership of a bicycle [or moped], the transferee shall forward the certificate of registration so endorsed to the director of finance who shall file the certificate.  The director of finance may charge a fee of $5 which shall be deposited into the county bikeway fund for each new certificate of registration issued.  Whenever a transferee fails to comply with these provisions, the director of finance shall charge a fee of $10, in addition to the fee provided in this section, for the issuance of a new certificate of registration.

     (c)  The director of finance, upon receipt of the certificate of registration properly endorsed and the required fee, shall register the bicycle [or moped] and shall issue to the owner thereof by reason of the transfer a new certificate of registration in the manner and form provided for in an original registration.

     (d)  Until the director of finance has issued the new certificate of registration as provided in subsection (c), delivery of such bicycle [or moped] shall be deemed not to have been made and registration thereto shall be deemed not to have passed, and the intended transfer shall be deemed to be incomplete and not to be valid or effective for any purpose.

     (e)  In the event of the transfer by operation of law in or to a bicycle [or moped], as upon inheritance, devise, or bequest, order in bankruptcy, or insolvency, execution sale, repossession upon default in performance of the terms of a lease or executory sales contract, or otherwise than by the voluntary act of the person whose interest is to be transferred, the certificate of registration shall be signed upon the spaces provided by the personal representative of, or successor in interest of the person whose registered ownership or interest is so transferred in lieu of such person.  Every personal representative, receiver, trustee, sheriff, or other representative hereinabove referred to shall file with the director of finance a notice of any transfer by sale, lease, or otherwise by the person, of any such bicycle [or moped], together with evidence satisfactory to the director of finance of all facts entitling such representative to make the transfer.

     (f)  Any person who refuses or neglects to deliver a certificate of registration to a transferee entitled thereto under this section, shall be punished as provided in section 249-14.6.

     (g)  Every dealer or manufacturer, upon transferring a bicycle [or moped], whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall immediately give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every such notice shall contain the date of the transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the bicycle [or moped] as may be called for in the official form.

     (h)  Every person, other than a dealer, upon transferring a bicycle [or moped], whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall within ten days give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every notice shall contain the date of transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the bicycle [or moped] as may be called for in the official form.  Any person who violates this subsection shall be fined not more than $100.

     (i)  Whenever the registered owner of a bicycle [or moped] or any dealer or manufacturer has given notice to the director of finance of a transfer of the registered ownership to the bicycle [or moped], as provided in subsection (g) or (h), and has delivered the certificate of registration bearing the transferor's signature to the transferee as required by subsection (a), the transferor shall be relieved from liability, civil or criminal, which the transferor might subsequently incur by reason of being the registered owner of the bicycle [or moped].

     (j)  Any person who falsely or fraudulently gives notice to the director of finance of a transfer of registered ownership to a bicycle [or moped] shall be subject to the penalty provided in section 249-14.6."

     SECTION 5.  Section 249-14.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-14.5  New bicycles [and mopeds].  All new bicycles [and mopeds], otherwise requiring the payment of fees under section 249-14, held in stock for purposes of sale shall be exempt from the fee.  At the time of first sale, the dealer selling the new bicycle [or moped] shall:

     (1)  Require the buyer to complete a license application form furnished by the director of finance;

     (2)  Issue a copy of the completed form to the buyer; and

     (3)  Transmit a copy of the completed form to the director of finance with the required fees which the dealer has collected from the buyer.

Upon receipt of the fee and the completed license application form, the director of finance shall mail a tag or decal and certificate of registration to the registered owner.  Until the tag or decal is received, the bicycle [or moped] owner shall keep a copy of the completed application form upon the owner's person when riding the bicycle [or moped] on a public street."

     SECTION 6.  Section 249-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-15  Seizure and sale.  The directors of finance, any person authoritatively acting on behalf of the director of finance, or any member of a police force of the several counties of the State may seize any bicycle [or moped] liable for the payment of the required fees or which has no tag or decal affixed as required by section 249-14, and may hold the bicycle [or moped] for a period of ten days, during which time it shall be subject to redemption by its owner on payment of the fee due and a penalty of $1.  All bicycles [and mopeds] not so redeemed shall be sold by the county chief of police or director of finance or their authorized representative, at public auction after first giving five days public notice of the time and place of sale in the county where the sale is to be held.  Sale shall be made for the best price obtainable, which amount shall be forthwith paid over to the director of finance, accompanied by a statement containing a description of the bicycles [or mopeds], their serial number, makes, and any other marks of identification.  The director of finance, after deducting from the amount so received the amount of the fee and penalty due and costs of giving public notice, shall pay any surplus to the previous registered owners of the bicycles [or mopeds].  If at the expiration of ninety days the previous registered owners remain unknown, the surplus shall be paid into the treasury of the county, as a government realization, and all claims to the sums shall be forever barred."

     SECTION 7.  Section 249-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-16  Duplicate bicycle [and moped] tags and certificates of registration.  In the event that a bicycle [or moped] tag or certificate of registration furnished under section 249-14 or 249-14.2 is lost, stolen, or mutilated, or becomes illegible, the person to whom it was furnished may obtain a duplicate thereof by presenting to the county director of finance the number and registration of the bicycle [or moped] involved.  There shall be a charge of $2 for the duplicate tag and $5 for the duplicate certificate of registration."

     SECTION 8.  Section 249-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-17  False tag[,]; bicycle; [or moped,] penalty.  Any person who uses a tag not furnished in accordance with section 249-14, or who counterfeits any such tag or who fraudulently removes such a tag from any bicycle [or moped,] shall be fined not more than $500."

     SECTION 9.  Section 286-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

     1.  By amending the definition of "motor vehicle" to read:

     ""Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power, including a moped, but which is not operated upon rails[, but excludes a moped]."

     2.  By amending the definition of "vehicle" to read:

     ""Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, but excludes devices moved by human power or devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks [and mopeds]."

     SECTION 10.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 11.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 12.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Motor Vehicle Regulation; Mopeds; Motor Scooters

 

Description:

Requires the Director of Transportation, rather than the counties, to regulate mopeds.  Requires owners of mopeds and motor scooters to register them with the State and obtain license plates.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.