SR 151: urging the department of transportation to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 GRAMS OF ALCOHOL PER ONE HUNDRED MILLILITERS OF BLOOD with the intent of prioritizing safety and saving lives on Hawaii's roads.

SENATE RESOLUTION

urging the department of transportation to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 GRAMS OF ALCOHOL PER ONE HUNDRED MILLILITERS OF BLOOD with the intent of prioritizing safety and saving lives on Hawaii's roads.

     WHEREAS, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, about thirty-seven people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes every day; and

     WHEREAS, that number equates to one person dying every thirty-nine minutes; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths across the United States; and

     WHEREAS, from 2011 to 2022, at least forty percent of traffic fatalities in Hawaii involved alcohol; and

     WHEREAS, research published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in 2012 shows that if a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is between 0.05 and 0.08 percent, their chances of being killed in a crash where only the person's vehicle is involved are at least seven times higher than if the person had not been drinking at all; and

     WHEREAS, reducing the legal BAC limit to 0.05 percent would likely lead to fewer instances of impaired driving and its consequences; and

     WHEREAS, a 0.05 percent BAC limit would serve as a general deterrent to impaired driving and affects all would-be drinking drivers; and

     WHEREAS, more than one hundred countries have reduced their legal BAC levels to 0.05 percent or lower, including Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Transportation is urged to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood with the intent of prioritizing safety and saving lives on Hawaii's roads; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to consist of the following members:

     (1)  The Director of Transportation or the Director's designee;

     (2)  A Representative from the Office of the Public Defender;

     (3)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu;

     (4)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Kauai;

     (5)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Hawaii; and

     (6)  A representative from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of Maui; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to invite the following individuals to participate as members of the working group:

     (1)  A representative from the National Transportation Safety Board;

     (2)  A representative from the Hawaii Alcohol Policy Alliance;

     (3)  A representative from the field of traffic safety and research with expertise in alcohol-impaired driving;

     (4)  A representative of Hawaii establishments selling alcohol;

     (5)  A representative of Hawaii restaurants;

     (6)  A representative from an organization doing work on reducing alcohol-related fatalities; and

     (7)  Any other members as deemed appropriate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to examine data to identify:

     (1)  The number of alcohol-related fatalities and injuries per year in Hawaii;

     (2)  The number of expected fatalities and injuries per year involving drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood, based on real world results in other places;

     (3)  How alcohol and food revenues are affected in other jurisdictions that require drivers to have a blood alcohol concentration of .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood;

     (4)  How much revenue could be expected to be gained or lost by decreasing the legal blood alcohol concentration to .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood in Hawaii;

     (5)  Mitigating steps to help bars and restaurants adapt to any potential loss of revenue or options that might be recommended to address any loss; and

     (6)  Any recommendations to increase public awareness and phase‑in legislation to decrease the legal blood alcohol concentration for driving to .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report to the Legislature of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Governor, Director of Transportation, Public Defender, and Prosecuting Attorneys of each county.

Report Title: 

Department of Transportation; Blood Alcohol Concentration; Working Group 

SENATE RESOLUTION

urging the department of transportation to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 GRAMS OF ALCOHOL PER ONE HUNDRED MILLILITERS OF BLOOD.

     WHEREAS, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, about thirty-seven people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes every day; and

     WHEREAS, that number equates to one person dying every thirty-nine minutes; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths across the United States; and

     WHEREAS, from 2011 to 2022, at least forty percent of traffic fatalities in Hawaii involved alcohol; and

     WHEREAS, research published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in 2012 shows that if a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is between 0.05 and 0.08 percent, their chances of being killed in a crash where only the person's vehicle is involved are at least seven times higher than if the person had not been drinking at all; and

     WHEREAS, reducing the legal BAC limit to 0.05 percent would likely lead to fewer instances of impaired driving and its consequences; and

     WHEREAS, a 0.05 percent BAC limit would serve as a general deterrent to impaired driving and affects all would-be drinking drivers; and

     WHEREAS, more than one hundred countries have reduced their legal BAC levels to 0.05 percent or lower, including Australia, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Germany; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Transportation is urged to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to consist of the following members:

     (1)  The Director of Transportation or the Director's designee;

     (2)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu;

     (3)  A representative from an office or department of the prosecuting attorney located on a neighbor island;

     (4)  A representative from the Hawaii Alcohol Policy Alliance; and

     (5)  A representative from the field of traffic safety and research with expertise in alcohol-impaired driving; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report to the Legislature of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2026; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Transportation, and Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu.

Report Title: 

Department of Transportation; Blood Alcohol Concentration; Working Group 

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1617

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 151

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.R. No. 151 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP ON LOWERING THE LEGAL LIMIT OF BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION TO 0.05 GRAMS OF ALCOHOL PER ONE HUNDRED MILLILITERS OF BLOOD,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Department of Transportation to establish a working group on lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawaiʻi Alcohol Policy Alliance, and one individual.

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the Public Defender and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that more than one hundred countries have reduced their legal blood alcohol concentration levels to 0.05 percent or lower, including Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.  Your Committee further finds that from 2011 to 2022, at least forty percent of traffic fatalities in Hawaii involved alcohol.  Your Committee believe that reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit to 0.05 percent would likely lead to fewer instances of impaired driving and its consequences.  Therefore, this measure requests the Department of Transportation to convene a working group to study the potential effects of future legislation that would decrease the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers throughout the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the intent of the working group is to prioritize safety and saving lives on Hawaii's roads;

     (2)  Inserting language to request that the working group additionally include the following members:

          (A)  A representative from the Office of the Public Defender;

          (B)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Kauai;

          (C)  A representative from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Hawaii; and

          (D)  A representative from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of Maui;

     (3)  Inserting language to request that the working group invite the following individuals to participate as members of the working group:

          (A)  A representative from the National Transportation Safety Board;

          (B)  A representative of Hawaii establishments selling alcohol;

          (C)  A representative of Hawaii restaurants;

          (D)  A representative from an organization doing work on reducing alcohol-related fatalities; and

          (E)  Any other members as deemed appropriate;

     (4)  Inserting language to request the working group to examine data to identify:

          (A)  The number of alcohol-related fatalities and injuries per year in Hawaii;

          (B)  The number of expected fatalities and injuries per year involving drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood, based on real world results in other places;

          (C)  How alcohol and food revenues are affected in other places that require drivers to have a blood alcohol concentration of .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood;

          (D)  How much revenue could be expected to be gained or lost by decreasing the legal blood alcohol concentration to .05 grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood in Hawaii;

          (E)  Mitigating steps to help bars and restaurants adapt to any potential loss of revenue or options that might be recommended to address any loss; and

          (F)  Any recommendations to increase public awareness and phase-in legislation;

     (5)  Amending its title accordingly; and

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 151, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 151, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,