HB 1161: Motor vehicles; proper operation upon approach by an authorized emergency vehicle or by a law enforcement vehicle for purposes of a traffic stop; provide

Georgia law already required drivers to pull over for approaching emergency vehicles, but this bill separates that rule from law enforcement traffic stops and creates a distinct standard for each. Drivers must still yield to emergency vehicles with lights and sirens, but a new provision spells out that when a marked law enforcement vehicle signals a traffic stop, the driver must pull to the right and stop, unless doing so would be unsafe, in which case the driver may continue at the posted speed limit to a safer spot while signaling intent. The bill also creates mandatory minimum prison time, calculated at 30 days per mile fled, for people convicted of eluding officers from three specific Department of Public Safety divisions. It lowers the legal window tint threshold for front side windows from 32 percent to 28 percent light transmission and sets a separate 15 percent standard for rear windows. It also tightens the permitting, signage, and nonpayment notice requirements for school zone speed cameras. Most changes take effect July 1, 2026, but the school zone signage changes take effect July 1, 2027.

• Splits the old rule on approaching emergency vehicles into two parts: one for emergency vehicles and a new one specifically covering police traffic stops, requiring drivers to pull to the right and stop unless unsafe.
• Creates a mandatory sentencing formula for fleeing or eluding certain Department of Public Safety officers, adding 30 days of prison time for each mile a suspect fled.
• Lowers the legal minimum light transmission for tinted front side and door windows from 32 percent to 28 percent and sets a new 15 percent minimum for rear windows.
• Requires counties and municipalities using automated school zone speed cameras to file an annual report on the revenue those devices generate.
• Tightens the permit application process for school zone speed cameras, requiring proof of need for multi-lane roads and barring cameras on four-lane school zones without a crosswalk.
• Requires speed camera citation notices to warn that unpaid fines or uncontested tickets will block renewal of the vehicle's registration.

Georgia drivers, especially those approached by police or emergency vehicles; people charged with fleeing or eluding Capitol Police, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, or Uniform Division officers; owners of vehicles with tinted windows; and county and municipal governments and law enforcement agencies that operate school zone speed cameras.

Drivers will face a clearer, but stricter, standard for pulling over during police stops, and those who flee certain state officers could face significantly longer mandatory prison time tied directly to how far they ran. Motorists with dark-tinted front windows may now be out of compliance, and local governments running speed cameras face new reporting, permitting, and notice requirements.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-74 so the yield-and-pull-over rule for approaching emergency vehicles no longer applies to law enforcement vehicles, and adds a new subsection (b) governing how drivers must respond to a police traffic stop, including an exception allowing continued driving at the posted speed limit to a safe stopping location.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 to add a mandatory sentence of 30 days imprisonment per mile fled for people convicted of eluding a Capitol Police, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, or Uniform Division officer, within existing minimum and maximum sentence ranges.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-8-73.1 to define front versus rear side and door windows separately, lowers the front window tint threshold to 28 percent light transmission, and sets a 15 percent threshold for rear windows.
• Section 4 repeals the prior 'safe location' provision in O.C.G.A. § 40-8-91 since that concept is now addressed in the revised § 40-6-74.
• Section 5 requires school zone automated speed camera warning signs to include a real-time speed display and yellow flashing lights, effective July 1, 2027.
• Section 6 adds a requirement in O.C.G.A. § 40-14-11 for counties and municipalities to annually report speed camera revenue to the Department of Public Safety.
• Section 7 revises O.C.G.A. § 40-14-18 to require governing bodies, not individual schools, to apply for speed camera permits, adds justification requirements for multi-lane placements, and mandates a registration-renewal warning on unpaid citation notices.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 640
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (House)
7. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)
• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 19, 2026

   162 yea, 2 nay (8 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #534

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   43 yea, 7 nay (0 not voting, 4 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #1 By The Senator From The 29th: Senate Vote #908

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   46 yea, 3 nay (1 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #909

4. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   163 yea, 6 nay (4 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To Senate Sub As Am: House Vote #864

5. PassedSenate voteApril 3, 2026

   33 yea, 19 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Agree To House Amendment To Senate Substitute: Senate Vote #982

• traffic stops
• police pursuits
• window tint laws
• school zone speed cameras
• emergency vehicle right of way