Penalties
HRS §291-37
in effect291-37. Penalties
(a) Any person who omits to perform any of the acts required by, or who commits any of the acts prohibited by, sections 291-2 to 291-33, or any rules adopted to enforce those sections, shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $1,800, except as otherwise provided.
Any person who omits to perform any of the acts
required by, or who commits any of the acts prohibited by, section 291-34,
291-35, or 291-36 shall be fined in accordance with the following:
(1) For excess weight of up to 100 pounds, the
minimum fine for a violation shall be $250;
(2) For excess weight greater than 100 pounds, the
fine for a violation shall be an additional $0.11 per pound. Example: A truck
is cited for weighing 15,000 pounds in excess of the gross weight limit; the
fine is $250 + (15,000-100)*$0.11 = $1,889; and
(3) The fines in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be
applied to each axle and wheel group violation in addition to a gross vehicle
weight violation as applicable.
If the excess dimension is: The fine shall
be:
Up to 5 feet $ 50
Over 5 feet and up to 10 feet 100
Over 10 feet and up to 15 feet 150
Over 15 feet 200
For the purposes of this section,
"person" means the driver of the vehicle unless the driver is an
employee in the scope and course of employment, in which case
"person" means the employer of the driver. In the case of the
transportation of a sealed container or transportation by flatrack,
"person" means the individual or company the cargo is consigned to or
the individual or company located in the State shipping the cargo.
The consignee or the shipper shall not be cited if
the power units' drive axle group is overweight, and the weight is not more
than that allowed for a tandem axle with any applicable tolerances.
All penalties imposed and collected for
violations of sections 291-33 to 291-36 shall be paid into the state highway
fund.
The department of transportation shall
institute a system where the fine, based on the provisions in this subsection,
may be mailed in when the citation or penalty is not to be contested. This
system shall include an ability for the owner of the vehicle or combination of
vehicles to request the operator be held harmless and the citation be
transferred to that owner of the vehicle or combination of vehicles.
(b) When a vehicle or combination of vehicles
including load is found to be in violation of any provision contained in
sections 291-33 to 291-36, and the operator of such vehicle or combination of
vehicles is a subordinate or employee, the courts shall take judicial notice of
this relative subordinate position and, conditions warranting, hold the
operator harmless and impose the applicable penalties against the owner of the
vehicle or combination of vehicles. The owner of the vehicle or combination of
vehicles shall mean persons or officers of firms or corporations, who owns the
transporting vehicle or who operates the vehicle under a bona fide lease
agreement.
[L 1941, c 216, pt of §1; RL 1945, §11716; RL 1955, §311-22; HRS
§291-37; am L 1977, c 184, §3; am L 1980, c 281, §3; am L 1989, c 57, §1; am L
1992, c 43, §1 and c 179, §1; am L 1994, c 30, §2; am L 2005, c 66, §1; am L
2007, c 209, §1; am L 2023, c 241, §1]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol05_Ch0261-0319/HRS0291/HRS_0291-0037.htmFetched: 11/10/2026