This bill restores county and city ability to regulate the use of bicycles on sidewalks. State law was amended two years ago to prohibit the riding of bicycles on sidewalks by anyone over the age of 12.

HB 224 would require off-road vehicles to be registered and licensed by the State.  Vehicles owned by local government or used exclusively for agricultural or construction are exempted from this requirement.

This bill provides that cash bonds must be accepted for offenses in violation of commercial vehicle or driver safety; hazardous material transport; motor carrier insurance or registration; or road taxes on motor carriers. It further requires compliance with all federal motor carrier requirements.

This bill creates a new class of personal transportation vehicles that go no faster than 20 mph. The vehicles are required to meet minimum equipment standards and obey certain traffic laws as defined in the bill. Counties may adopt additional traffic regulations and require drivers to register with the county as long as doing so does not conflict with any state law. Vehicles currently registered with a county are grandfathered in and do not have to meet the minimum standards.

HB 793 would eliminate any length or width limitations (on all public roads) on vehicles used in an emergency tow of a wrecked commercial vehicle so long as the vehicle is not being towed more than 100 miles.  

HB 795 changes the definition of "all-terrain vehicles."

This bill would make it a felony for a driver to fail to stop when given a visual or audible signal from a law enforcement officer.

This bill makes it a felony for a driver to fail to bring their vehicle to a stop once given a visual or audible signal from a law enforcement officer to do so.  This legislation also provides for forfeiture of the vehicle upon conviction.

This bill allows for a 5 percent weight variance for tow trucks carrying disabled, damaged or wrecked commercial vehicles within 100 miles of the initial emergency tow pick up location. Said variance would require the purchase of a $500 annual permit from the DOT. Tow trucks could not exceed a single axle weight of 21,000 pounds, a load on any tandem axle exceeding 40,000 pounds, or a total load length exceeding 125 feet.

HB 871 extends the sunset on additional penalties that go to driver education purposes from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2018. ACCG supports the concept of fees for services; however, not one cent of the money raised here (about $10 million annually) has gone for drivers' education recent years.  It has instead been redirected, thus becoming a tax, to balance the state's general fund.  HB 811, having passed but which has been watered down by the Senate Rules Committee, seeks to address this redirection practice. 

SB 40 was stripped in House Committee and replaced with the language of HB 87.  For a summary of some of the major provisions of the new language, click here.  

SB 53 requires every county to prepare a map or plat by December 31, 2011 showing a special district for every public or private university, college or junior college in the unincorporated area. Any fine for violations of any criminal act, traffic violation or ordinance violation that occurs within this special district would include an additional penalty of 50% of the original fine. On half of the addition 50% would be retained by the county, the other half of this would be required to be placed into a special fund for that special district. The amounts from this special fund could only be used to enhance public safety services for the special district. The county would be required to file a report with the Department of Community Affairs detailing the county's compliance with this law.

Vehicle owners who receive a citation for running a red light as a result of a photo taken by a red light camera may have the citation dismissed simply by submitting a notarized statement that they were not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the violation. SB 60 provides that the notarized statement contain a clear warning to the owner that making a false statement is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine between $100 and $1,000 and/or one year in jail. SB 60 also exempts those drivers caught on camera who are in a funeral procession.

This bill would eliminate the ability of counties or cities to use cameras to catch drivers running red lights.

This bill creates a new class of low-speed vehicles between 1,300 and 2,500 pounds. It prohibits their operation during most night hours unless the local governing authority approves and they meet certain minimum equipment standards. It allows them to be driven on residential streets with a speed limit less than 35 miles per hour and allows them to tow a trailer and be used for delivering packages of a certain size and weight between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

A Senate Committee substitute to SB 146 increases the gross weight limits on all trucks (divisible loads) from 80,000 lbs to 86,000 lbs on state and county roads when a $500 permit is purchased from the State DOT.  Important to note is that the Georgia General Assembly has increased weight and variance limits seven times over the past eight years.  County roads and bridges were not designed to handle past increases, the one proposed by SB 146, nor sure-to-be future ones considered.  The resulting cost to local taxpayers to fix and maintain this exacerbated wear and tear on their county road infrastructure has been and will remain significant.            

This bill creates a new class of personal transportation vehicles that go no faster than 20 mph and weigh less than 1,375 pounds. The vehicles are required to meet minimum equipment standards as defined in the bill.