HB77: HB77 Motor vehicles; encountering funeral procession on two-lane highway; revise responsibilities

Georgia law already gives funeral processions the right of way at intersections and bars other drivers from cutting in or joining a procession to get that right of way. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-76 to add a specific rule for two-lane highways: when a procession is led by a state or local law enforcement vehicle and the lead and rear vehicles have their hazard lights flashing, drivers not in the procession must pull over to the right side of the road, clear of intersections, and stop until the procession passes. The bill also updates the definition of a funeral procession, allows local governments to charge fees for police escort services by ordinance, and exempts commercial truck drivers from the pullover rule if following it would be unsafe or break another law. Violating the procession rules remains a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $100.

• Adds a new requirement that drivers on a two-lane highway pull over and stop for a police-led funeral procession with hazard lights flashing on the lead and rear vehicles.
• Exempts commercial motor vehicle operators from the pullover requirement if it would be unsafe or violate other traffic laws.
• Updates the legal definition of 'funeral procession' to require either a funeral home sign on the lead vehicle or a law enforcement escort vehicle with all vehicles using headlights.
• Lets local governments pass ordinances to charge fees that cover the cost of police escort services for funeral processions.
• Keeps the existing misdemeanor penalty of a fine up to $100 for drivers who interrupt, improperly join, or illegally pass a funeral procession.

Drivers on Georgia's two-lane highways who encounter funeral processions, funeral homes organizing processions, local police and sheriff's deputies who escort them, commercial truck drivers, and local governments that may charge fees for escort services.

Drivers on rural or two-lane roads would face a clear new legal duty to pull over and stop for police-escorted funerals, changing how they must react in the moment. Truckers get a safety exemption, and local governments gain explicit authority to charge for police escorts, which could affect funeral costs.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-76(a) to redefine a funeral procession as vehicles with headlights on, led either by a vehicle with a funeral home sign or by a law enforcement escort vehicle.
• Subsection (d) newly authorizes local governments to set up police escort services by ordinance and charge reasonable fees to cover costs.
• Subsection (f) creates the two-lane highway rule requiring other drivers to pull to the right, stop, and remain stopped until a hazard-light, law-enforcement-led procession passes.
• Subsection (f) exempts commercial vehicle operators from the pullover rule when it would be unsafe, violate law, or endanger the vehicle, load, or public.
• Subsection (g) sets the penalty for violating the interruption, joining, passing, or pullover rules as a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $100.
• Subsection (h) grants law enforcement officers directing or escorting a funeral procession the same legal immunities they have during other official duties.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-02-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
3. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
4. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
5. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)
6. 2025-03-25Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
7. 2025-03-21Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)

• Lehman Franklin (R, HD-160)Primary sponsor
• Bill Yearta (R, HD-152)
• Mike Cameron (R, HD-001)
• Gary Richardson (R, HD-125)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   171 yea, 2 nay (4 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #154

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

• traffic law
• funeral processions
• motor vehicles
• road safety
• law enforcement escorts