KAILUA-KONA — A bill aimed at getting abandoned vehicles off public roads quicker in Hawaii passed a state Senate committee this week with overwhelming support.
But some Hawaii County officials tasked with removing ditched cars said the issue isn’t that simple. Department of Environmental Management Director William Kucharski said the proposal conflicts with other state law and could jeopardize a vehicle owner’s ability to get his or her car back.
The Senate measure and its companion House bill would amend the state law that empowers counties to remove abandoned vehicles from public roadways. But rather than saying counties can take custody of those vehicles and dispose of them, the bill would require counties to do so within 10 days of the vehicle’s abandonment.
Rep. Cedric Asuega Gates, an Oahu Democrat who introduced the House version, said the bill obligates counties to “deal with these safety and environmental hazards in a timely manner.”
The Senate bill sailed through a Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and Energy joint committee hearing. Both committees on Thursday unanimously recommended the measure be passed with amendments.
The bill still must go through the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
A House committee hearing on the companion bill hasn’t been scheduled.
But while public testimony was overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, Kucharski said it conflicts with another law requiring counties to give ample notice before disposing of the car.
State law requires counties give written notice to a vehicle’s registered owner immediately after taking a vehicle into custody, giving the owner 10 days, or 20 days for an owner with an out-of-state address, before taking further action.
But if the proposed bill becomes law, the 10-day window for counties to take possession and dispose of a vehicle would lapse before the window of time counties must give owners to collect the vehicle.
Kucharski said he wouldn’t have a problem with a 10-day window to dispose of a vehicle from the time a vehicle is officially considered abandoned.
“We do that anyway,” he said.
In Hawaii County, when a report of an abandoned vehicle is made, a Hawaii Police Department officer locates the vehicle and attaches a notice advising the owner to remove it within 24 hours.
If it’s still there the following day, an officer initiates a report, which ultimately goes to the Environmental Management Department. The department then arranges to have the vehicle removed most often within 72 hours.
Kucharski said those that aren’t removed are because the department hasn’t been notified or they don’t have the authority to remove it because it’s not in the county’s jurisdiction, such as when it’s on private property or state land.
He reiterated his points in testimony he submitted to the committee. Similar opposition was filed by the City and County of Honolulu’s director of customer services and Maui’s abandoned vehicles administrator, who said the bill “ultimately, is not feasible.”
Kucharski and police said they think the problem is much better than it has been. While reports of abandoned vehicles increased in recent years, the rate of increase has slowed.
In fiscal year 2014-15, there were 480 reports of abandoned vehicles on Hawaii Island, according to Environmental Management. That number jumped 75 percent the following year to 841 reports and 33 percent from that to 1,121 reports in fiscal year 2016-17.
Only a small portion of reported abandoned vehicles that are towed are later claimed. In fiscal year 2016-17, only 23 of the 750 vehicles towed were later claimed by the owner, a number consistent with prior years, even as the number of overall reports has climbed.
Hawaii Police Department Maj. Robert Wagner said police do their best to track down owners, but abandoned vehicles often have stripped VINs, are unregistered or have a pending notice of transfer, leaving police unable to identify the person responsible for abandonment.
While abandoned vehicles continue to be an issue, HPD Community Policing Sgt. Roylen Valera said he thinks it’s a lot better than six months ago because of better coordination between police and Environmental Management.
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.