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House committee narrows helmet bill, adopts amendments to target motorcycles and require lessors to provide helmets
Summary
The House Committee on Transportation advanced HB537 with amendments to target motorcycles and to require helmet provision by lessors; supporters cited crash statistics and life-saving effects of helmets while one individual testified in opposition.
The House Committee on Transportation advanced HB537, a measure that would require operators and passengers of two-wheel motorized vehicles to wear securely fastened helmets while operating on public roadways. The committee adopted HD1 with technical and scope amendments that limit the measure specifically to motorcycles and require rental businesses to provide helmets to renters.
Advocates for highway and auto safety, AAA Hawaii and other public-safety groups testified in support, citing national and state data that helmets reduce head injuries and fatalities. Omar Masood, director of state government relations for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the committee that motorcycle riders are far more likely to die in a crash than passenger-vehicle occupants and cited 2022 Hawaii data showing 33 motorcyclist deaths and a helmet nonuse rate of 68 percent when use was known.
Masood cited national estimates that helmets reduce the risk of head injury by roughly 69 percent and the risk of death by about 42 percent (testimony cited multiple studies and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates). Supporters urged the committee to adopt an all-rider helmet requirement to reduce fatalities, lifelong injuries and fiscal costs to families and the state.
An individual, Victor K. Ramos, registered opposition and spoke briefly; the transcript lists him as “individual in opposition.”
During decision making, the committee chair said the bill would be amended to apply specifically to motorcycles and that language on a 15-year-old age requirement would be removed because other pending legislation addresses that issue. The chair also said the committee would retain a provision requiring lessors and rental businesses to provide helmets to renters, citing visitor safety considerations.
The committee adopted HD1 with technical amendments and advanced HB537 to the next legislative stage. The committee noted its intention to coordinate related bills on rider age and rental regulation.
No roll-call vote with a full member roll was enumerated in the transcript for HB537; the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments was adopted.
The committee’s report will reflect the amendments and the testimony of safety advocates and the Office of the Department of Transportation’s support.
