Committee approves HB229 to restrict heavy vehicles from left lanes on large counties' multi-lane roads

The Senate Committee on Transportation, Culture and the Arts voted to pass House Bill 229, House Draft 1, with amendments that would bar vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds and vehicles towing another vehicle or trailer from using the left lane on roads that have three or more lanes in the same direction in counties with populations over 500,000.

The committee’s action, taken during a decision-making session, will send the measure to the Judiciary Committee for review of the civil penalties. Chair Lee, who presented the amendments, said the panel would "amend the bill so that we restrict vehicles over 10,000 pounds and those towing another vehicle or trailer from the left lane on roads with 3 or more lanes going in the same direction instead of basing restrictions on speed." He added the committee would leave penalty amounts blank for the Judiciary Committee to determine.

The amended measure preserves exemptions for vehicles using the left lane to overtake another vehicle, to turn left, and for public transit, school buses and emergency vehicles as defined in Section 291C-26. The committee also limited the bill’s geographic application to counties with populations over 500,000 and excluded the neighbor islands; the measure retains a defective effective date in the text.

Chair Lee called for the committee’s recommendation to pass with amendments; the roll call recorded unanimous affirmative votes from Chair Lee, the vice chair, Senator Elefante, Senator Kanuha and Senator DeGort. The committee’s report will include the amended text and forward the bill to the Judiciary Committee, which will address the penalty structure.

The vote formalizes the committee’s policy decisions but does not set specific penalty amounts; those remain for subsequent committee consideration.