--- title: HB 344. Motor vehicles; school bus cameras; revise penalty amount for violations captured by recorded images collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb344 cite_as: HB 344, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb344 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb344.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb344/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70101 date: 2025-02-26 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb343.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb345.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 179 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb344.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 344 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-10 last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted sponsors: - Don Parsons - Derrick McCollum - Mitchell Scoggins - Brad Thomas - Alan Powell text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB344/2025 upstream_id: 1964608 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - school bus safety - traffic fines - motor vehicle law - school bus cameras --- # HB 344. Motor vehicles; school bus cameras; revise penalty amount for violations captured by recorded images ## Text House Bill 344 By: Representatives Parsons of the 44th, McCollum of the 30th, Scoggins of the 14th, Thomas of the 21st, and Powell of the 33rd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 40-6-163 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to duty of driver of vehicle meeting or overtaking school bus, reporting of violations, and civil monetary penalty for violations captured by school bus camera, so as to revise the penalty amount for violations captured by recorded images; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 40-6-163 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to duty of driver of vehicle meeting or overtaking school bus, reporting of violations, and civil monetary penalty for violations captured by school bus camera, is amended by revising subparagraph (d)(3)(A) as follows: "(A) The owner of a motor vehicle shall be liable for a civil monetary penalty to the governing body of the law enforcement agency provided for in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph if such vehicle is found, as evidenced by recorded images, to have been operated in disregard or disobedience of subsection (a) of this Code section and such disregard or disobedience was not otherwise authorized by law. The amount of such civil monetary penalty shall be: (i) For the first violation in a jurisdiction, $300.00; (ii) For a second violation in a jurisdiction, $500.00; and (iii) For a third or subsequent violation in a jurisdiction, $1,000.00;" SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House bill would replace the flat $1,000 fine for drivers caught on camera passing a stopped school bus with a tiered penalty that starts lower and rises for repeat violations in the same jurisdiction. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law already lets local governments use cameras mounted on school buses to catch drivers who illegally pass a stopped bus, and it holds the vehicle's owner liable for a civil fine when that happens. Under current law that fine is a flat $1,000 regardless of whether it is a first offense or a repeat one. This bill rewrites that part of the law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-163) so the penalty depends on how many times the same vehicle owner has been caught in the same jurisdiction. A first violation would cost $300, a second violation would cost $500, and a third or later violation would still cost $1,000. The bill does not change any other part of the school bus camera law, such as how images are recorded or how violations are reported. ### What it does - Replaces the current flat $1,000 civil penalty for school bus camera violations with a three-tier fine schedule based on the number of violations in a jurisdiction. - Sets the fine at $300 for a first violation captured by a school bus camera in a given jurisdiction. - Sets the fine at $500 for a second violation by the same vehicle owner in that jurisdiction. - Keeps the fine at $1,000 for a third or any later violation by the same vehicle owner in that jurisdiction. ### Who it affects Vehicle owners whose cars are caught on school bus cameras illegally passing a stopped school bus, and the local law enforcement agencies and governing bodies that collect these civil penalties under Georgia's school bus camera law. ### Why it matters Drivers cited once for passing a stopped school bus would pay less than under current law, while those caught repeatedly in the same area would still face the full $1,000 fine, changing how much money local governments collect from first-time versus repeat violators. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends subparagraph (d)(3)(A) of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-163, which covers civil penalties for school bus camera violations. - The revised text sets the penalty at $300 for a first violation in a jurisdiction. - The revised text sets the penalty at $500 for a second violation in a jurisdiction. - The revised text keeps the penalty at $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation in a jurisdiction. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-10) - Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-02-26) - Sponsors: Don Parsons, Derrick McCollum, Mitchell Scoggins, Brad Thomas, Alan Powell - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70101 > The history, votes, and amendments (179 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb344.md?full=1