The Senate Committee on Public Safety offered the following
substitute to HB 1022:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and
traffic, so as to modify the permissible reduction of light transmission through the application
of material and glazing to the windows of certain motor vehicles; to prohibit electric tinting;
to provide for penalties; to provide for definitions; to revise the date by which law
enforcement officers shall acquire equipment capable of verifying a driver's license issued
in an electronic format; to create an offense for fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing
vehicle or law enforcement officer performing duties on behalf of the Capitol Police
Division, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, or Uniform Division of the
Department of Public Safety; to provide for penalties based on the distance a person fled or
otherwise attempted to elude a pursuing vehicle or law enforcement officer performing duties
on behalf of the Department of Public Safety; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and traffic, is
amended by revising Code Section 40-8-73.1, relating to tinting of windows or windshields,
as follows:
"40-8-73.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) <ins>'Electric tinting' means any material that uses an electric current to change the light
reflectance or light transmission of a surface. Such term shall include, but is not limited
to, electrochromic glass and polymer dispersed liquid crystal film.
(2) 'Front side and door windows' means the side and door windows of a motor vehicle
that are directly to the right and left of the driver.
</ins> (3) 'Light reflectance' means the ratio of the amount of total light that is reflected
outward by a product or material to the amount of total light falling on the product or
material.
<del>(2)(4)</del> 'Light transmission' means the ratio of the amount of total light, expressed in
percentages, which is allowed to pass through a surface to the amount of light falling on
the surface.
<del>(3) 'Manufacturer' means a person who produces or assembles a vehicle glass-coating
material or who fabricates, laminates, or tempers a safety-glazing material, which
material reduces light transmission.
(4)(5)</del> 'Material' means any transparent product or substance which reduces light
transmission.
<del>(5)(6)</del> 'Multipurpose passenger vehicle' means a motor vehicle designed to carry ten
persons or less which is constructed on a truck chassis or with special features for
occasional off-road operation.
<ins>(7) 'Rear side and door windows' means the side and door windows of a motor vehicle
that are not directly to the right and left of the driver.
</ins>
(b) Except as provided in this Code section, it shall be unlawful for any person to operate
a motor vehicle in this state:
(1) Which has material and glazing applied or affixed to the front windshield, which
material and glazing when so applied or affixed reduce light transmission through the
windshield; <del>or
</del> (2) Which has material and glazing applied or affixed to <del>the rear windshield or</del> the <ins>front
</ins> side or door windows, which material and glazing when so applied or affixed reduce light
transmission through the windshield or window to less than <del>32</del> <ins>28</ins> percent, plus or
minus 3 percent, or increase light reflectance to more than 20 percent;
<ins>(3) Which has material and glazing applied or affixed to the rear windshield or the rear
side or door windows, which material and glazing when so applied or affixed reduce light
transmission through the windshield or window to less than 15 percent, plus or minus 3
percent, or increase light reflectance to more than 20 percent; or
(4) Which has electric tinting applied or affixed to the front windshield, rear windshield.
</ins> (c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section shall not apply to:
(1) Adjustable sun visors which are mounted forward of the side windows and are not
attached to the glass;
(2) Signs, stickers, or other matter which is displayed in a seven-inch square in the lower
corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or signs, stickers, or other
matter which is displayed in a five-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield
nearest the driver;
(3) Direction, destination, or termination signs upon a passenger common carrier motor
vehicle if the signs do not interfere with the driver's clear view of approaching traffic;
(4) Any transparent item which is not red or amber in color which is placed on the
uppermost six inches of the windshield;
(5) Any federal, state, or local sticker or certificate which is required by law to be placed
on any windshield or window;
(6) The rear windshield or the <ins>rear</ins> side or door windows, <del>except those windows to the
right and left of the driver</del> of:
(A) A multipurpose passenger vehicle;
(B) A school bus, any other bus used for public transportation, and any bus or van
owned or leased by any religious or any nonprofit organization duly incorporated under
the laws of this state;
(C) Any limousine owned or leased by a public or private entity; or
(D) Any other vehicle, the windows or windshields of which have been tinted or
darkened before factory delivery or permitted by federal law or regulation;
(7) Any law enforcement vehicle;
(8) Any vehicle that displays a valid special license plate issued to a government official
under Code Section 40-2-61, 40-2-63, or 40-2-64;
(9) Any vehicle owned or operated by the state or a political subdivision thereof and that
displays a valid license plate issued pursuant to Code Section 40-2-37; or
(10) Any vehicle operated in the course of business by a person licensed or registered
under Chapter 38 of Title 43, relating to private detective and private security businesses.
(d) The Department of Public Safety may, upon application from a person required for
medical reasons to be shielded from the direct rays of the sun and only if such application
is supported by written attestation of such fact from a person licensed to practice medicine
under Chapter 34 of Title 43 or a person certified as an optometrist under Chapter 30 of
Title 43, issue an exemption from the provisions of this Code section for any motor vehicle
owned by such person or in which such person is a habitual passenger. The exemption
shall be issued with such conditions and limitations as may be prescribed by the
Department of Public Safety.
(e) No person shall install any material upon the windshields or windows of any motor
vehicle, the installation of which would result in a reduction of light transmission or an
increase in light reflectance in violation of subsection (b) of this Code section.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, commercial motor vehicles
operated in this state are subject to the specifications of or limitations relating to windshield
or window glazing or the application of light reducing or reflectance material to the
windshield or windows as provided for in the federal motor carrier safety regulations
contained in 49 C.F.R. 393.60 and adopted by the commissioner of public safety pursuant
to Code Section 40-1-8.
(g) The Department of Public Safety is authorized to promulgate such rules and
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Code section.
(h)(1) Any person who violates subsection (b) or (e) of this Code section shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor.
<ins>(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection, any person who violates paragraph
(4) of subsection (b) of this Code section shall:
(A) Upon the first violation, be subject to a fine of not more than $500.00; and
(B) Upon the second and subsequent violations, be subject to a fine of not more than
$1,000.00."
</ins> SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended by revising Code Section 40-2-41, relating to display of license
plates, as follows:
"40-2-41.
Unless otherwise permitted under this chapter, every vehicle required to be registered under
this chapter, which is in use upon the highways, shall at all times display the license plate
issued to the owner for such vehicle, and the plate shall be fastened to the rear of the
vehicle in a position so as not to swing and shall be at all times plainly visible. No person
shall display on the rear of a motor vehicle any temporary or permanent plate or tag not
issued by the State of Georgia which is intended to resemble a license plate which is issued
by the State of Georgia. The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules and regulations so
as to permit the display of a license plate on the front of certain vehicles. It shall be the
duty of the operator of any vehicle to keep the license plate legible at all times. No license
plate shall be covered with any material unless the material is colorless and transparent.
<ins>No license plate shall be covered by electric tinting as such term is defined in Code
Section 40-8-73.1.</ins> No apparatus that obstructs or hinders the clear display and legibility
of a license plate shall be attached to the rear of any motor vehicle required to be registered
in the state. Any person who violates any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor."
SECTION 3.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 40-5-29, relating to license to be carried and
exhibited on demand, by revising paragraph (4) of subsection (b) as follows:
"(4) By July 1, <del>2027</del> <ins>2032,</ins> all law enforcement officers shall acquire equipment capable
of verifying a license issued in an electronic format."
SECTION 4.
Said title is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
<ins>"40-6-395.1.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle to willfully fail or refuse to bring his or
her vehicle to a stop or to flee or otherwise attempt to elude a pursuing law enforcement
vehicle or officer performing official duties on behalf of the Capitol Police Division,
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, or Uniform Division of the Department of
Public Safety when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop. The
signal given by such officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer
giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,
and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official vehicle of
the Department of Public Safety, including, but not limited to, vehicles specifically marked
</ins>
<ins>as Capitol Police Division, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, and Georgia State
Patrol.
(b) The trier of fact shall determine beyond a reasonable doubt the distance the person
actually traveled while fleeing or otherwise attempting to elude a pursuing Department of
Public Safety vehicle or officer after such officer notified the Department of Public Safety
dispatcher that such person was fleeing or otherwise eluding the officer. The determination
of the distance traveled shall not be an essential element of such offense. If the distance
traveled cannot be determined, such distance shall be presumed to be zero miles.
(c)(1) Any person convicted of violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code
section, upon a first conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a high and aggravated
misdemeanor and, upon a second or subsequent conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a
felony and shall be punished as follows:
(A) Upon the first conviction, a fine not subject to suspension, stay, or probation of not
less than $1,000.00 nor more than $5,000.00 and confinement for 30 days for each mile
the person actually traveled while fleeing or otherwise attempting to elude a pursuing
Department of Public Safety vehicle or officer but in no case for a period of less than 30
days or more than 12 months. Any period of such imprisonment in excess of 30 days
may, in the sole discretion of the judge, be suspended, stayed, or probated;
(B) Upon the second conviction within a ten-year period of time, as measured from the
date of previous arrest for which a conviction was obtained to the date of the current
arrest for which a conviction is obtained, a fine not subject to suspension, stay, or
probation of not less than $2,500.00 nor more than $7,500.00 and imprisonment for the
greater of 30 days for each mile the person actually traveled while fleeing or otherwise
attempting to elude a pursuing Department of Public Safety vehicle or officer or 90
days but in no case for a period of more than two years; and
(C) Upon the third or subsequent conviction within a ten-year period of time, as
measured from the dates of previous arrests for which convictions were obtained to the
</ins>
<ins>date of the current arrest for which a conviction is obtained, a fine not subject to
suspension, stay, or probation of not less than $5,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00 and
imprisonment for the greater of 30 days for each mile the person actually traveled while
fleeing or otherwise attempting to elude a pursuing Department of Public Safety vehicle
or officer or two years but in no case for a period of more than ten years.
(2) For the purpose of imposing a sentence under this subsection, a plea of nolo
contendere shall constitute a conviction.
(3) Upon a finding by the sentencing judge that payment of the fine required under
subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection would impose an
economic hardship on the defendant, such judge may order the defendant to pay such fine
in installments which may be enforced through a contempt proceeding or a revocation of
any probation otherwise authorized by this subsection.
(4) Notwithstanding the limits set forth in any municipal charter, any municipal court of
any municipality shall be authorized to impose the punishments provided for in
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection upon a conviction of violating such
subparagraph or upon conviction of violating any ordinance adopting the provisions of
such subparagraph.
(d) Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section who, while
fleeing or otherwise attempting to elude a pursuing Department of Public Safety vehicle
or officer:
(1) Operates his or her vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed
limit;
(2) Strikes or collides with another vehicle or a pedestrian;
(3) Is the proximate cause of an accident;
(4) Flees in traffic conditions which place the general public at risk of receiving serious
injuries;
(5) Commits a violation of:
</ins>
<ins>(A) Code Section 40-6-144;
(B) Subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-163;
(C) Subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-251;
(D) Subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-390;
(E) Subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-390.1; or
(F) Subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-391; or
(6) Leaves this state
shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not less than $5,000.00 nor more
than $10,000.00 and imprisonment for the greater of 30 days for each mile the person
actually traveled while fleeing or otherwise attempting to elude a pursuing Department of
Public Safety vehicle or officer or one year but in no case for a period of more than ten
years.
(e) Following adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of
subparagraph (c)(1)(B) or (c)(1)(C) or subsection (d) of this Code section, the sentence
shall not be suspended, probated, deferred, or withheld, and the charge shall not be reduced
to a lesser offense, merged with any other offense, or served concurrently with any other
offense."
</ins> SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.