§708-824  Failure to control widely
dangerous means.  (1)  A person commits the offense of failure to control
widely dangerous means if, knowing that widely dangerous means are endangering
life or property, the person negligently fails to take measures to prevent or
mitigate the danger and:



(a) The person knows that the person is under an
official, contractual, or other legal duty to take measures to prevent,
control, or mitigate the danger; or



(b) The means were employed by the person or with the
person's assent, or on premises in the person's custody or control.



(2)  Failure to control widely dangerous means
is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1993]



 



COMMENTARY ON §708-824



 



  This section imposes misdemeanor liability upon a person for the
negligent failure to prevent or mitigate danger resulting from the use of
widely dangerous means where either (a) the actor is under some legal duty to
do so, or (b) the actor is actually or constructively responsible for employing
such means.  This offense combines the Model Penal Code's offenses of
"Failure to Control or Report a Dangerous Fire" and "Failure to
Prevent Catastrophe."[1]  The underlying premise is that a citizen's
criminal liability for potential widespread destruction arises from the citizen's
tortious or contractual liability with regard to the potential harm.



  Hawaii previously had no statute dealing generally with the
problems of catastrophe and the mitigation of the risk thereof but rather dealt
separately with various substantive acts which represented a general public
danger.  The only general heading under which such offenses were grouped is
"common nuisance," which included such widely dangerous aspects as
spreading disease, making and storing gunpowder, blasting with explosives, and
keeping dangerous animals.[2]  In a similar vein, however, Hawaii provided a
misdemeanor sanction for the failure of any able-bodied person to help combat a
fire.[3]  In simplifying and combining the above-mentioned sections of the
Model Penal Code, this Code fills an apparently neglected area of Hawaii law.



 



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§708-824 Commentary:



 



1.  M.P.C. §§220.1(3) and 220.2(3), respectively.



 



2.  H.R.S. §727-1.



 



3.  Id. §185-8.