Car Insurance, Speed Cameras And Slow Drivers Caught Lawmakers’ Attention This Session
The cost of auto insurance could soon be going up for thousands of Hawaii drivers.
A bill that would require an estimated one in four Hawaii motorists to buy additional auto insurance is poised for final votes this week in the state House and Senate.
is one of several bills lawmakers advanced this year to make changes in the rules of the road, including a measure to use cameras to ticket speeding motorists and another to require that slow-moving drivers on two-lane highways pull over and let the cars behind them pass.
SB 2342 is backed by the , formerly known as Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii. HAJ says the rising cost of medical care and auto repairs make it necessary to increase the amount of insurance coverage motorists are required to carry.
People injured in accidents today may find their losses are not covered by insurance because the legally required minimum package of auto insurance has not kept pace with the actual cost of accidents, according to HAJ. The mandated coverages were set by lawmakers decades ago and never updated.
Evan Oue, executive director of the Hawaii Association for Justice, told lawmakers earlier this year that 鈥渢he substantial increase in consumer protection by raising the minimums far outweighs the minimal premium cost increases associated with it.鈥
The bill would increase the required liability coverage for bodily injury from the current $20,000 per person to $40,000 per person, with an aggregate minimum of $80,000 per accident.
The same measure would also increase the minimum required liability coverage for property damage from the current $10,000 to $20,000 per accident. The new insurance minimums would take effect in 2026.
has estimated the proposals to boost the minimum required bodily injury liability coverage could add 11% to 70% to the cost of premiums for those coverages.
Ito estimated increasing the required property damage coverage from $10,000 to $20,000 would add 10% to 20% to the premiums for that coverage. The ranges vary widely because individual motorists’ premiums are based on a variety of factors, including a driver鈥檚 age and driving record.
SB 2342 would also increase the maximum fine for people who are repeatedly caught driving without auto insurance, from $1,500 now to as much as $2,000.
House and Senate Republicans are opposing the bill along with two House Democrats.
Republican Sen. Brenton Awa, who represents a district from Kahaluu, Laie and Kahuku to Schofield Barracks, said he opposes both the increased insurance coverage mandate and the higher fine for driving without coverage.
“To us, it was just how are you going to increase the penalty when people can’t even afford it? The whole reason people aren’t getting insurance is because people can’t afford it,” he said.
As for the higher potential fines for driving without coverage, “you’re going to penalize people who can’t afford it. That’s not getting them any closer to getting insurance,” Awa said.
The estimates that nearly 11% of Hawaii motorists already drive without the minimum legally required insurance.
House Republican Minority Floor Leader Diamond Garcia said he supports increasing penalties for driving without insurance, but said mandating more coverage will only increase the cost of living for working people.
“Right now the sad reality is there are many local families who are driving uninsured because they can’t afford it,” he said. “This will only add more burden, more cost to them in the name of public safety, but I think what’s going to happen is we’ll see a lot more motorists go uninsured.”
It appears thousands of Hawaii motorists would be affected by the bill.
privately owned and registered cars and trucks in 2020, and publicly available rate filings suggest 25% to 35% of all vehicle policies today provide the minimum required coverage, according to Michael Onofrietti, chairman of the auto policy committee for the Hawaii Insurers Council.
That percentage is surely higher for younger households and lower-income families, Onofrietti said in a written statement. HIC opposed SB 2342, arguing it would likely cause more people to drive without any coverage at all.
Lawmakers have also given preliminary approval to , which would reestablish the
The bill would create the “Automated Speed Enforcement Systems Program” for 10 in place. The program to use cameras to ticket motorists who run stoplights has been operating since 2022.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano of a previous so-called “van cam” program in 2002 that used an automated system to ticket speeders. The system triggered a public outcry over the use of the cameras to issue thousands of speeding tickets.
Lawmakers also dabbled in traffic control with , which would require that slow-moving motorists on two-lane highways pull over if traffic is building up behind them.
The bill requires that vehicles traveling 10 miles per hour or more below the posted speed limit on a two-lane highway pull over if five vehicles have formed in a line behind the pokey motorist.
The state Department of Transportation said in that the department believes the measure “will improve operational efficiency and minimize road rage statewide.”
The House and Senate are scheduled to take final floor votes on all three measures on Wednesday.
