Marine Corps Base Hawaii, HI -- The issue regarding which vehicles are authorized and which are unauthorized access to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay may be confusing, if drivers do not understand vehicle requirements set by base policy and enforced by the Marines assigned to the Provost Marshal’s Office. So, in an effort to help determine whether or not your vehicle is authorized aboard base, PMO offers the following.
In order for a privately owned or commercial vehicles to obtain access to this and other military facilities, drivers must obtain permission to access the base, whether it be for one day or an extended period of time.
The process for obtaining permission to bring vehicles on base begins at the Pass House where drivers must present a valid driver’s license, proof of automobile insurance and state registration, and a current safety check.
These documents are usually enough for driver’s to gain access to the base. However, for those who want to obtain a Department of Defense decal, registration must be done at either the Pass House in Building 1637 or in Building 601 at Camp H.M. Smith. Drivers are expected and required by base order to keep their vehicle registrations current.
Oftentimes, even though vehicles are properly registered, problems sometimes arise when vehicle ownership transfers from one person to another and the previous and new owner do not make the appropriate changes to the vehicle’s registration.
“One of the problems we have is the new owner of a purchased vehicle doesn’t bother to change out the decal sticker on the vehicle,” said Master Sgt. Dean Jordan, services chief, PMO. “It would be nice if the buyer and seller accompanied each other to de-register and register the vehicle together.”
Another problem arises when a vehicle owner fails to properly register the vehicle and fails to have a safety check performed or have a current safety check updated. In these cases, if the driver is stopped by PMO personnel, he or she run the risk of having their vehicle marked as “derelict.”
There are vehicles that, for whatever reason, are parked throughout the base that are not properly registered and do not have current safety checks. These vehicles are considered “abandoned” and are brought to the impound lot.
Rather than abandon a vehicle or leave a vehicle unregistered, Emanuel Austin, impound custodian, PMO, said there are several options. Aside from the obvious option of obtaining proper registration and safety check, Austin said that owners have other options. They can park their vehicle in an approved lot, donate their vehicle, or turn it over to PMO.
“If the owner of a vehicle needs some time or assistance with their vehicle, I would be happy to help them or allow them more time,” said Austin. “But to just leave the vehicle there without even calling is a very bad choice.”
Derelict and abandoned vehicles that are sitting in barracks’ parking lots and base housing will be towed and impounded if the owners do not take the proper steps to fix the problem, according to Austin.
If a derelict vehicle is marked with a notice and is not moved for more than 72 hours, its status may be changed to an “abandoned” vehicle status. After being identified, it will be ticketed and tagged with a phone number that the owner is to contact to claim his or her vehicle. If the owner does not claim the vehicle, it will then be processed and impounded.
“There are a lot of vehicles located at different barracks that are marked as abandoned, and we have problems in base housing where the vehicles are taking up parking and blocking other areas,” said Austin.
In addition to being unsightly and pose an inconvenience to others, these vehicles could potentially cause unnecessary hazards.
“About a year and a half ago, PMO had a call into base housing,” said Jordan. “There were three eight year olds pushing themselves up and down the street in an abandoned vehicle. That could have ended up with a very horrible outcome.”
PMO does not presume that vehicles are always intentionally abandoned; however, in some cases, owners may be ill advised as to what they should do about their vehicle while they are on deployment, but PMO suggests that there is a simple solution.
Before service members are deployed, they must make arrangements to have their vehicles parked in a deployment lot in order to prevent leaving them in an unauthorized location or having PMO personnel impound them. The deployments lots are available to all units aboard the base.
“It’s the command’s responsibility to ensure that the vehicle gets into a deployment lot,” said Jordan.
If a vehicle owner wants to get rid of their vehicle, PMO encourages them to donate the vehicle, rather than to leave it to be picked up and impounded.
“They can either donate it to a charitable organization, or bring it directly to us,” said Austin.
Vehicle owners who fail to take corrective measures to remedy discrepancies face administration action and other penalties.
According to Austin, there is now a weekly abandoned vehicle report that is sent to base units to advise them of abandoned vehicles that may be owned by unit personnel. If a Marine or Sailor assigned to a specific unit is identified as the owner of an abandoned vehicle, his or her unit must contact PMO.
“That way I know whether to allot them more time if that individual is deployed, on leave, or has any other issues that may be preventing them from fixing their vehicle at that given time.”
Austin said they also keep Tagged Abandoned Vehicle reports, so that in case owners try to move their vehicles to different location on base, it is noted.
Austin said they try to maintain a schedule and keep track of how long certain vehicles have been marked. In order to reduce the number of abandoned vehicles on base, they try to tow at least eight vehicles per week with the assistance of Motor Transport on base.
The towed vehicles are taken to the impound lot located behind PMO where the owner can only retrieve it if he or she goes through the traffic bailiff and corrects all of the problems that PMO has identified.
A first offense may result in the loss of on-base driving privileges for 30 days. A second offense may be six months of no driving privileges, and the third offense may result in one year of no driving privileges, said Jordan. They will all result in a mandatory court appearance and a deduction of six base driving points – out of 12 allotted to each base driver.
For those who may be interested in donating their vehicle, call 521-4438, or contact the Auto Hobby Shop at 254-7674.
For more information about derelict or abandoned vehicles, contact Emmanuel Austin at 257-2103 Ext. 322.