Georgia CommonsHouse · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 494: Motor vehicles; require mopeds to be covered by a form of minimum financial responsibility for accident damages
Last action March 19, 2026 · Senate Committee Favorably Reported
A Georgia House bill would require moped riders to carry proof of financial responsibility, such as liability insurance, covering the same minimum amounts required for cars.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Under current Georgia law, mopeds can be operated with a valid driver's license or permit, but riders are not required to carry insurance or any other form of financial responsibility for accidents. This bill would change that by adding a new requirement to the state's moped law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-351). The bill reorganizes the existing moped licensing rules into labeled subsections and adds a new subsection requiring every moped operated on Georgia highways to be covered by a form of financial responsibility, such as liability insurance, that can pay for accident damages at the same minimum dollar amounts required for other motor vehicles under O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11. The bill also makes small wording changes, replacing 'in this state' with 'of this state' in two places. It repeals any conflicting laws but does not state a specific effective date beyond the standard process.
What the bill does
- Adds a new requirement that mopeds operated on Georgia highways must be covered by a form of financial responsibility, such as liability insurance, for accident damages.
- Ties the required coverage amount to the same minimum liability limits set for other vehicles under Georgia's insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11).
- Reorganizes the existing moped statute into labeled subsections (a) and (b) without changing the underage and licensing rules already in place.
- Makes minor wording changes, replacing 'in this state' with 'of this state' in the existing licensing language.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with the new moped insurance requirement.
Who it affects
Moped owners and riders in Georgia, who would need to obtain and maintain liability coverage; insurance companies that sell policies covering mopeds; and law enforcement officers who verify compliance with the state's financial responsibility rules.
Why it matters
If enacted, moped riders would have to buy insurance or otherwise prove they can pay for accident damages, similar to car owners. This could raise the cost of owning a moped but would give people injured in moped accidents a better chance of being compensated.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 40-6-351 by splitting the existing rules into subsection (a), barring moped operation by anyone under 15, and subsection (b), requiring a valid license or permit.
- Section 1 adds new subsection (c), requiring every moped on Georgia highways to carry a form of financial responsibility covering accident liability at the minimum amounts set in O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(a)(1)(A).
- Section 1 changes 'in this state' to 'of this state' in two places, a wording change with no substantive effect.
- Section 2 repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with the new requirement.
From the bill
“No person shall operate a moped upon the highways of this state unless such moped is covered by a form of financial responsibility which provides for the ability to respond in damages for liability on account of accidents in the amounts specified in subparagraph (a)(1)(A) of Code Section 33-7-11.”
Discussed in meetings (2)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Public Safety Committee, March 18, 2026
From 0:40:25 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: With the sponsor absent, the chair presented HB 494. The chair said it would increase insurance coverage requirements for mopeds so that accident costs would not fall on another person’s insurance because a moped operator lacked minimum coverage. The chair noted that the committee had approved the bill the previous year, but it had not completed the legislative process. No members offered substantive questions or discussion. The committee approved the bill unanimously.
Status timeline
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
- Lynn Heffner (D, HD-130)
- Gabe Okoye (D, HD-102)
- Kimberly Alexander (D, HD-66)
- Rhonda Taylor (D, HD-92)
- Kim Jackson (D, SD-41)
Votes
- House voteMarch 6, 2025
160 yea, 14 nay (2 not voting, 4 excused)
Topics
- moped insurance
- motor vehicle law
- financial responsibility
- traffic safety