Honolulu considers fine on stinky bus riders

[THUNDERDUCK]

HONOLULU - Stinky city bus riders soon could get soaked.

The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to a $500 fine and/or up to six months in jail for public transit passengers convicted of being too smelly.

The bill will be heard Thursday in committee. It would make it illegal to have "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system."

It doesn't matter if it's body odor or offensive fumes that emanates from clothes, personal belongings or animals.

Councilmen Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia co-sponsored the anti-odor bill.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii says it is concerned with laws that are inherently vague, which opens the door to discriminatory enforcement based on an officer's individual prejudices.

[kuro808]

I am from Honolulu and that is such a lame thing to do for government to impose such a fine.  I have been around some people like that but they shouldn't do it

[THUNDERDUCK]

HONOLULU - The proposal to bar smelly people from Honolulu buses turned out to be a stinker.

The Honolulu City Council had considered making it illegal to have "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system." Anyone convicted of being too smelly could have been fined up to $500 and/or given a six-month jail term.

But officials and others wrinkled their noses at the plan during a hearing Thursday.

Lawyers from the city and the American Civil Liberties Union said it was vague and could lead to unconstitutionally subjective judgments. Members of the public pointed out that bad odors could be produced by disease, or be carried from a person's workplace.

The council's transportation committee then shelved it.

But the idea still seems to be wafting around. Councilmen Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia say they may make revisions to their bill and reintroduce it later.