HB 231 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE.

HB 231 increases fines for drivers who fail to maintain required motor vehicle insurance coverage. The bill directly affects uninsured drivers operating vehicles without valid insurance, raising penalty amounts for violations. Key provisions specify higher financial penalties for non-compliance, with the changes taking effect on July 1, 3000. The bill passed committee with amendments but remains in early legislative stages.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action Feb 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB231 → HB231_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill increases fines for driving without motor vehicle insurance and adds stricter penalties for repeat offenders, including potential jail time and vehicle impoundment. It also clarifies when drivers can avoid penalties and updates the effective date to July 1, 3000. The changes aim to deter uninsured driving through higher financial penalties and more severe consequences for repeat violations.

Scope change

The bill expands enforcement mechanisms by adding new penalties for repeat offenses and clarifying exemptions for certain driving situations, such as borrowing insured vehicles or driving employer-owned vehicles within the scope of employment.

REQUIREMENT

Increased minimum fines from $100 to $200 and maximum from $5,000 to $5,500 for violations; raised first offense fine from $500 to $600 and subsequent offense minimum from $2,000 to $2,500.

Adjusted community service hours for first offense from 75-100 hours to 75-100 hours (unchanged) but second offense from 200-275 hours to 200-275 hours (unchanged), with some bracketed text removed.

ENFORCEMENT

Added new penalties for multiple convictions within five years, including up to 30 days imprisonment, suspension of registration plates, and vehicle impoundment or sale.

ELIGIBILITY

Added exemptions for operators of borrowed vehicles if they reasonably believe the vehicle is insured, and clarified employer vehicle exemptions.

TIMELINE

Changed effective date from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 3000, likely a placeholder error that will need correction.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 4, 2025

Committee

Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 74) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Grandinetti, Evslin, Kitagawa, La Chica, Miyake, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to TRN, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role

Legislator

Party

State

District

In committee

Feb 4, 2025

Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with Representative(s) Amato voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kong, Ward excused (3).

Documents 4

PDF HB231_HD1

HTML HB231_HD1

Passage Likelihood 39%

39% medium confidence

Most factors fell back to their neutral default

AI-estimated based on sponsor alignment, committee composition, similar bills, and momentum. Not a guarantee.

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