LIHUE – Broken down, disassembled vehicles left on the side of the road and other inconspicuous places around the island are an epidemic. The problem is that it is difficult to trace the owners of abandoned or abandoned vehicles because, more often than not, the drivers of the cars have never transferred the ownership.

“We’ve all been inundated with calls from people regarding the condition of these vehicles,” board member Mason Chock said at last week’s board meeting.

KPD currently has over 260 complaints pending regarding abandoned or abandoned vehicles around the island. According to their statistics, the department managed the withdrawal of 404 abandoned and abandoned vehicles during fiscal year 2017 and 498 for fiscal year 2018. During fiscal year 2019, it handled 653.

“This is an ongoing problem that continues to worsen,” Deputy Chief Mark Begley said. “Loopholes in our laws / statutes allow some people to abandon their vehicles without sufficient liability.

“For every vehicle we tow, another appears. “

And it is a burden that taxpayers must bear. Kauai County spent over $ 411,000 on handling abandoned and abandoned vehicles in 2017 and about $ 423.00 in 2018. So far this year, the county has already spent some $ 491,000.

So, the reason board members Chock and Luke Evslin brought forward two “road safety” related bills for potential inclusion in the Hawaii State Association of Counties’ 2020 legislative package ( HSAC) and the 2020 Kauai County Legislative Package. These packages are two channels in which the Departmental Council can propose bills to the Legislative Assembly.

The first would place the responsibility for transferring ownership of the vehicle on the seller rather than the buyer.

So that we can easily find out who the current owner is, Chock said.

“We believe that giving more responsibility to the seller will encourage the seller to meet the buyer at the motor vehicle registration office to transfer title to their vehicle in person,” Begley said. “This would ensure that the vehicle is immediately and correctly registered in the name of the new owner. This would greatly discourage and prevent fraud in the transfer process. This would protect buyers from unpaid taxes / fines on the vehicle. And that would increase the owner’s responsibility to comply with various laws and ordinances relating to vehicle ownership. “

It’s a system that’s already working well in other states, including Pennsylvania, according to KPD. Other states, such as Arizona and New York State, have laws in place that require sellers to remove and return their vehicle license plates when they sell it, forcing l ‘buyer to “quickly” register the vehicle in his name.

Under the current vehicle title transfer system, Evslin said: “There isn’t a lot of liability for the person who owns the vehicle as it is not under their name and maybe not even their name. last person. “

County Finance Director Reiko Matsuyama admitted that “people are abusing the system” and carrying out transactions “fraudulently”.

The other “road safety” bill that is still under discussion, also presented by Chock and Evslin, concerns the adjustment of “beautification” fees which cover costs that include the removal of abandoned and abandoned vehicles. . Currently, the state allows counties to charge residents up to $ 10 per year, a fee that is built into their annual registration fees. However, car rental companies can only charge $ 1 per year per vehicle. This bill would remove that cap so that the fees are equal.

“So we can take care of abandoned vehicles properly,” Chock said.

Council members said they have seen their fair share of abandoned rental cars. One hot spot, in particular, that was reported at last week’s board meeting is near the “Blue Hole” hike, said board member Felicia Cowden.

Council members broadly agreed with the second “beautification” bill, but there was some hesitation over the first, which will be discussed in more detail on Wednesday.

“We just want to make sure we focus on the ones with the best chances,” board member Ross Kagawa said of the bills. “We want to make sure we have things in the package that will benefit the whole state.”

Both bills will be the subject of further discussion at the county council’s housing and intergovernmental relations committee meeting at 8:30 a.m. today in the council chamber of the historic county building. If both bills are accepted, this is the first step in a long process, as they will both have to undergo a thorough approval process, including committees from all the islands, before making their way to the state legislature.

Visit kauai.gov/council/committeemeetings for more information.