Hawaii News Now ran a story last night entitled “Police Warn Dog Owners to Buckle Up Fido” that basically told the story of a little known law here in Hawaii that is certainly not enforced very often from I can tell.
In Hawaii there is a law that state you can be fined $97 for driving with a dog in your lap and $57 if the animal’s loose in a moving vehicle.
According to Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-124b:
§291C-124 Obstruction to driver’s view or driving mechanism. (a) No person shall drive a vehicle when it is so loaded, or when there are in the front seat such a number of persons, exceeding three, as to obstruct the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle, or as to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.
(b) While operating a motor vehicle, no person shall hold in the person’s lap, or allow to be in the driver’s immediate area, any person, animal, or object which interferes with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.
(c) No passenger in a vehicle shall ride in such position as to interfere with the driver’s view ahead or to the sides, or to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle. [L 1971, c 150, pt of §1; am L 1981, c 11, §1; gen ch 1985]
Some folks are saying this is ridiculous and others are strongly in support of it.
So I ask, is this a ridiculous law or not?
Filed under: Hawaii, Legal, Rumors, State Affairs, Unexplained Phenomenon Tagged: | Driving with Dogs in Your Laps, Hawaii Revised Statute 291C, Illegal, Lap Dogs in Hawaii
