HB809: HB809 Motor vehicles; minimum speed limit of 50 miles per hour on certain highways; provide

Georgia law already lets state and local officials post minimum speed limits on roads where slow driving impedes traffic flow. This bill adds a specific new rule to that law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-184): on controlled-access highways that are part of the Interstate System or Georgia Highway 400, wherever the posted speed limit is 65 miles per hour or greater, drivers must go at least 50 miles per hour. The bill also renumbers and keeps in place existing rules about not blocking the passing lane when a faster vehicle approaches from behind, along with exceptions for traffic congestion, bad weather, legal requirements, toll payment, emergency vehicles, and highway maintenance crews. The change would take effect on July 1, 2027, and any conflicting laws would be repealed.

• Adds a new minimum speed limit of 50 miles per hour on interstate highways and Georgia Highway 400 wherever the posted speed limit is 65 mph or higher.
• Keeps the existing ban on driving so slowly that it impedes normal traffic flow, except when slower speed is needed for safety.
• Preserves the existing authority of state and local officials to set posted minimum speed limits on other roads based on traffic studies.
• Retains the passing lane rule requiring drivers to move over when overtaken from behind, along with its seven existing exceptions.
• Sets the effective date of the new minimum speed rule as July 1, 2027.

Drivers on Georgia's interstate highways and Georgia Highway 400, especially those traveling in the far right lanes at low speeds; the Georgia Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety, which oversee posted speed limits; and state and local law enforcement responsible for enforcing traffic laws.

Slow-moving vehicles on high-speed highways can create hazards for faster traffic. This bill would give drivers and law enforcement a clear, statewide 50 mph floor on major interstates and Georgia 400 rather than leaving minimum speeds to case-by-case local determinations, once it takes effect in 2027.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-6-184 by adding new subsection (c), setting a 50 mph minimum on controlled-access highways in the Interstate System or Georgia Highway 400 with posted limits of 65 mph or more.
• Section 1 keeps subsection (a)'s ban on driving slowly enough to impede normal traffic flow except when needed for safety.
• Section 1 keeps subsection (b)'s existing process for commissioners or local authorities to set posted minimum speed limits based on traffic studies.
• Section 1 renumbers the passing lane rule as subsection (d) and its exceptions as subsection (e), without substantive changes to those rules.
• Section 2 sets the effective date of the Act as July 1, 2027.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-03-25House Second Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-21House First Readers (House)
4. 2025-03-20House Hopper (House)

• John Carson (R, HD-046)Primary sponsor
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Brad Thomas (R, HD-021)
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)

• speed limits
• traffic laws
• interstate highways
• Georgia Highway 400
• driving rules