updated 5:30 p.m. MT, Tues., Sept . 1, 2009
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."
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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.

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FTW? Remind me to shower before ever boarding a bus in Honolulu. :-P :-/

There is no need to walk around smelling bad. Take at least a 5 minute shower, its not that hard. I don't see how anyone can go around smelling gross.

Yeah but being a humid place you can walk around for 10 minutes and work up a sweat and likely have an "offensive odor" about you because of that.

Although I'm the first one to cringe at body odor, I also understand that some people simply do not have the means to take a shower, buy deodorant, or wash their clothes regularly. It's just one of those things in life you have to deal with. I mean what if a business man with a suit & tie came in and let off a big stinky fart would they throw him off the bus and press charges. Sounds ridiculous to me.

There are people that don't have the means to do those things, and then the people that just don't care.. My roommate for instance showers MAYBE once every 2 weeks and does not use deodorant. She has a full bottle of body wash, shampoo and conditionor in the bathroom. And she has 3 things of deodorant and she just doesn't do it. Her body odor is so horrendous that it makes me gag. Just by walking through a room, she stinks the room up for 10 mins. She has flat out told me that she doesnt take care of herself like she should because she's too lazy and just doesn't feel like it.

That's horrible. I couldn't live with someone to lazy to shower. But the bill maybe trying to target those who are too lazy to shower and are making those around them smell their body odor, but it will still affect the ones who are less fortunate and don't have the means to take care of themselves.

Right, I don't think that the ones who can't afford to properly take care of themselves should have to get nailed with the fine. But certainly the ones that are just too lazy.

Ha I don't want to live here, but I really don't have a choice right now. My husband and I can't afford a place of our own. I already told my husband that my roommate i not holding my son when he's born. I don't want my newborn to have to suffer smelling that. If I have to I'll hide with him up in my room. lol

Why don't you talk to her about it. Maybe she needs a reality check. If you tell her sternly that she stinks so bad that she stinks the house up and she makes you gag when she walks by that will be motivation enough to get up and wash herself.

Oh I have, and she replied with "If I don't feel like washing up then I wont" And to make it worse she's obese, and obese people usually have a harder time with body odor than an average weight person. And then her not showering.. And I forgot to mention, she wears the same clothes for a month at a time. Granted we don't ahve a washer and dryer right now, but she goes to her in laws to wash laundry for free. My husband and I go to a laundry mat, and she refuses to change her clothes.

Maybe you should talk to your landlord about her. If you and your husband can't afford the rent by yourselves then let him know that you are in an uncomfortable situation especially with a baby on the way you want things to be as clean as possible, and maybe he will address it. If not, I would def start looking for another roommate, or cheaper housing.

you mean she doesnt wash her ass and shes married?!?!?! my lord. maybe they like rolling in each others stink! LOL I feel for you though. I really do. Laziness is a huge peeve of mine. I see no excuse in it. Constant laziness though. Not the random lazy mood us normal folk get from timr to time.

yeah exactly

If someone afford to pay for the bus they can buy a bar of soap and some deodorant, apart from lazyness there is absolutely no excuse to smell.

I think being a poor/homeless is a pretty good excuse to smell, having nothing to do with laziness. What good is deodorant if they have no where to wash their clothes, or a bar of soap if they have no where to shower? Deodorant won't cover extreme body order unless the person is able to bathe regularly. If you take a stinky homeless guy off the street and have him put it on his pits, I'm sure he still won't smell much better. Paying a bus fair could easily be far more of a priority for a lot of people over smelling offensive, and it's completely plausible that they CAN afford to pay for the bus, but can't afford to stay clean.

NOT EVERYONE HAS TO PAY FOR THE BUS THOUGH. LIKE THE ELDERLY GET FREE BUS TRAVEL.

I agree with Transit, but Sweet Tea is right.... it is SO humid here, especially in Honolulu. There are a lot of stinky people here, there are a lot of "hippies" and people who don't regularly shower. . . but the law seems a bit ridiculous. . .

i wish they had a rule like this for my school :| it's like the people walking around in those hallways have never heard the word "bathe"

I completely agree Makayla. I hate body order as much as anyone else, but this law sounds incredibly discriminatory towards the homeless and poor. If someone can't afford to shower, or doesn't have a bath to shower in, than how would they afford a $500 fine? I couldn't afford that, and I have a home/shower/soap/washer. To throw someone in jail or fine them for smelling bad is just insane. If Honolulu has such a stench problem, than maybe they should invest in some programs/homes where people could shower or wash their clothes who don't have other means of doing so.

agree WITH* Makayla

Thought I would toss in that HI has one of the country's best homeless programs.

What the state is trying to do is target those who CHOOSE not to bathe, and there are quite a few of them depending on where on each island you are.

Well I'm glad to hear they have good homeless programs, I know there are a lot of issues with homelessness/poverty in some parts. But how does a state differentiate between those who choose not to bathe and those who cannot bathe? What about the mentally ill or mentally handicapped or drug addicts, who maybe have the means to shower, but aren't in the right state of mind to choose to actually take one?

Better yet, instead of making it a legal matter, why don't they just kick them off the damn bus and leave it at that? I like what Puck said, too, what about if someone is wearing perfumes/cologne that smell offensive to certain passengers? The idea of a law like this is just stupid, it's not like they can have a meter that measures if you stink unreasonably. Most people with BO don't even realize how badly they smell. And if they have such good homeless programs, than why not pass along fliers/information on buses to smelly passengers so they are aware that there is somewhere for them to bathe, and inform them that they have to use these programs or bathe elsewhere in order to ride the bus and not disrupt other passengers. I'd be grossed out riding a bus with someone who stunk, regardless or the reason why, but I wouldn't necessarily want them fined/jailed for it.

I HOPE THEY INCLUDE PERFUME TOO. GOSH, I HATE THE EXPERIENCE OF PERFUME GOING UP MY NOSE.

I THINK THIS IS A JOLLY GOOD IDEA. IT IS MOST HORRIBLE TO HAVE A SMELLY PERSON SIT NEXT TO YOU IN THE BUS. OR EVEN IN FRONT OF YOU.

ALTHOUGH, TO BE FAIR, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A HARDCORE STINK. LIKE IF YOU'RE WALKING AROUND TOWN IN THE HEAT, YOU'RE BOUND TO SWEAT A BIT, EVEN THROUGH YOUR DEODORANT. I'M SURE I SOMETIMES SMELL A BIT BO'ISH' IN THE BUS, DESPITE HAVING APPLIED MY DEODORANT THAT MORNING AFTER MY BATH.

I WONDER HOW THEY WILL DEFINE THIS: "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system." AS IN, HOW WILL THEY DEFINE UNREASONABLE? WHAT ABOUT THE PASSENGERS (LIKE MYSELF) WITH HIGHLY SENSITIVE NOSES, AND WHO GET DISTURBED VERY EASILY? LIKE, SMELL IS A VERY SUBJECTIVE THING.