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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0642.003 2008-2010William P. Kenoi Mayor County of Hawaii Finance Department 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2103 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 (808)961-8234 Fax (808)961-8248 Nancy E. Crawford Director Deanna S. Sako Deputy Director January 20, 2010 ~ 0 ~.) ~ o ~ , TM k ~;'1 J Yoshimoto, Council Chair and ~ ~ rv ~' Members of the Hawaii County Council ° Hawaii County Council --~ 25 Aupuni Street ~€~ ; =~; Hilo, Hawaii 96720 '~~ "' `''~ ~;.r ~.: ~, f~ cn Re: Bill No. 182 -Amending Hawaii County Code ~ ~' On December 15, 2009 the Public Works and Intergovernmental Relations Committee considered the referenced bill to amend Section 24-167 of the Hawaii County Code by including additional safety requirements for towing vehicles and trailers. The bill was sent forward with a positive recommendation and is scheduled for first reading at the Hawaii County Council meeting on January 6, 2010, at which time it was deferred until the following Council meeting at the Finance Department request. We are now submitting changes to remove the term "emergency" from both the existing County Code language and the proposed new language in Section 24-167(a). We wish to clarify that the safety requirements apply to all connections to towed vehicles or trailers, and are not limited to emergency connections. We also wish to add the term "or towed vehicle" in Section 24-167(c), as it was inadvertently omitted. Additionally we have added Section 24-167(d) to exclude trailers over 10,000 pounds from this requirement. Safety chain requirements included in this bill are not appropriate for trailers of that weight. They fall under PUC regulations that are better suited to trailers of that size. The language from Bill No. 182 is shown below with the two instances of the term "emergency" to be deleted and the proposed additional term "or towed vehicle" and added section (d) highlighted. Attached is the full section we request be considered for a draft 2 of the bill. Section 24-167. Towed vehicles [.] and trailers. (a) When one vehicle is towing another, the drawbar or other [en~~ge~}] connection shall be [^~~~~~~^~°~* ~*r°~^+'' +^ „~~" ^" ~~~°~^'~++^~~~°~' ]equipped with an additional safety chain or Comm. iM~.~~~ Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 1`:~'~• ~,~~ ---~~~/-1iv ~:;t~ Amend Bill 182 January 20, 2010 Page 2 of 2 of tow bar or other [en~~l connection and/or coupling failure. Each chain or cable and its accombanvin~ coublin~ and mounting devices shall have an ultimate strength eaual to at least the gross weight of the vehicle. (b) No person shall operate a train of vehicles when any trailer, semi-trailer, or other vehicle being towed whips or swerves from side to side dangerously or unreasonably or fails to follow substantially in the path of the towing vehicle. (~ Every trailer :or towed vehicle to be operated upon a public highway shall, in addition to a tow bar, be equipped with a safety chain or chains (,stay chain or cable) adequate to hold such vehicle to the towing vehicle in the event of tow bar and/or coupling failure. Each chain or cable and its accompanying coupling and mounting devices shall have an ultimate stren tg h equal to at least the gross weight of the trailer. ~; This section shall not apply to trailers or towed vehicles with a gross vehicle wei ht rating over 10,000 lbs equipped with full airbrakes that meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety -- Standards Thank you for your assistance in making the requested adjustments to improve Bill 182. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. Nancy E. Crawford Director of Finance Enclosure cc: Lee Lord, Vehicle Registration and Licensing Craig Masuda, Corporations Counsel AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 24-167 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2005 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO OPERATION OF VEHICLES. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. Purpose. The purpose of this measure is to amend the requirements for towing of vehicles and trailers. SECTION 2. Chapter 24, article 7, section 24-167, Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 edition, as amended) is amended to read as follows: Section 24-167. Towed vehicles [:] and trailers. (a) When one vehicle is towing another, the drawbar or other [en~~genc-y] connection shall be [^~ °~~~~^~°~* °+r°r^*'~ *^ r~~" ^" ~ ^'~* *^~~~°~'.] equipped with an additional safety chain or chains (stay chain or cable adequate to hold such vehicle to the towing vehicle in the event of tow bar or other connection and/or coupling failure. Each chain or cable and its accompan~g coupling and mounting devices shall have an ultimate strength equal to at least the gross weight of the vehicle. (b) No person shall operate a train of vehicles when any trailer, semi-trailer, or other vehicle being towed whips or swerves from side to side dangerously or unreasonably or fails to follow substantially in the path of the towing vehicle. ~c,) Every trailer or towed vehicle to be operated upon a public highway shall, in addition to a tow bar, be equipped with a safety chain or chains (stay chain or cable) adequate to hold such vehicle to the towing vehicle in the event of tow bar and/or coupling failure. Each chain or cable and its accompanying coupling and mounting devices shall have an ultimate stren tg h equal to at least the gross weight of the trailer. This section shall not apply to trailers or towed vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,0001bs equipped with full airbrakes that meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. SECTION 3. Material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New material is underscored. In printing this ordinance, the brackets, bracketed and stricken material and underscoring need not be included. SECTION 4. If any provision of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall take effect upon its approval.