Hawai‘i State Law Library System

Motor Vehicle Law

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This reference guide identifies selected sources on general motor vehicle law issues in Hawai‘i. Resources listed in this guide are available at all of the court libraries in the Hawai‘i State Law Library System, unless otherwise noted. This finding aid is not exhaustive, and is meant to be used as a starting point for research on this topic.

Notes: The information in brackets [ ] indicates the call number. SCLL=Supreme Court Law Library on Oahu, 2d=Maui, 3d=Hilo, K=Kona, 5th=Kauai.
The Library staff is prohibited by law from giving legal advice. Please consult an attorney if you need such services.

Primary Sources | Secondary Sources | Internet Resources | Electronic Resources

Primary Sources (Laws, Ordinances, Rules, Cases)

1. Chapters 286-294-Motor Vehicles
   Hawaii Revised Statutes [KFH30 1993 A2]
   Hawaii Revised Statutes Annotated [KFH30 A4]

2. Chapter 15-Traffic Code
   Revised Ordinances of Honolulu [DESK KFX1512 A35]

3. Chapter 24-Vehicles and Traffic & Traffic Schedules
   Hawai‘i County Code [DESK KFX1483]

4. Chapters 16 and 17-Traffic Doe & Motor Vehicle and Traffic Regulations
   Kauai County Code [DESK KFX1610 A35]

5. Chapter 10-Vehicles and Traffic
   Code of the County of Maui [DESK KFX1819 A35]

6. Hawai‘i Civil Traffic Rules
   Hawai‘i Rules of Court* [DESK KFH529 A2 2004]
   (*Scroll down the list and find the "Hawai‘i Civil Traffic Rules". Choose either the htm or pdf format for the rules.)

7. eCourt Kokua
   View traffic violation case information in Hawai‘i for individuals or businesses.

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Secondary Sources

1. Encyclopedias:
   

   • American Jurisprudence, 2d [KF154 A42]
     Subject Heading: Automobiles and Highway Traffic

   • Corpus Juris Secundum [KF154 C81]
     Subject Heading: Motor Vehicles

   • Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law [REF KF387 G13]
     Subject Heading: Automobiles
     Available at SCLL. Electronic version available through Hawaii State Public Library System's "Gale Virtual Reference Library".

   • West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2d[KF154 W52]
     Subject Heading: Automobiles
     Available at SCLL. Electronic version available through Hawaii State Public Library System's "Gale Virtual Reference Library".

2. Manuals:
   

   • Motor Vehicle Law (Oceana's Legal Almanac Series) [KF209 L52 J31 no. 51]
     Brief summaries of topics relating to the motor vehicle and traffic laws of various states. Easy to read text with charts and a glossary in the back.

3. Finding Aids/Indexes:
   

   • Hawaii Digest [KFH57 H31] and Westlaw
     Topic: Automobiles
     Key Numbers: §1-426, 48ak1-426

   • LegalTrac (electronic periodical index)
     Search subject terms: Motor Vehicles

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Internet Resources

• Traffic Cases
  Brief summaries of the law regarding selected traffic cases from the Hawai‘i State Judiciary website.

• Nolo.com
  Under the "Rights and Disputes" tab, find the main topics box and click on "Traffic Tickets".

• Findlaw.com
  Click the "Traffic Violations" link.

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Electronic Resources

These resources are available for public use at the Hawai‘i State Law Libraries at no charge. Printing is 15¢ per page.

• Hein-On-Line: Provides full text articles from more than 1000 legal periodicals with coverage from the inception of each journal through the current year. Searchable database.
• LegalTrac: An electronic periodical index that uses keywords and subject headings to search for law review and legal journal articles.
• Michie's Hawaii Primary Law: Web-based searching for Hawai'i Appellate Court Opinions from 1847 to the present, Hawai'i Court Rules Annotated, and Hawai'i Revised Statutes Annotated
• Premise: A CD-ROM database available for searching Hawai‘i and federal cases, Hawai‘i laws and court rules, and legal encyclopedias.
• RIA Checkpoint: Comprehensive tax research source providing keyword searching for tax decisions and regulations.
• Shepard's: Used to determine whether a case, statute, or regulation is "good law" and provides references to later cases and other legal resources. You must have a legal citation, not a case name, already in hand to use this service.
• Westlaw: A web-based electronic database used to find federal and 50-state cases, laws, court rules, administrative regulations, and selected law review articles.

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