HB 667: Motor vehicles; standards for liability of an employer or insurance provider for actions relating to a commercial vehicle driver; provide

Georgia law already requires commercial vehicle employers to check a driver's background and bars them from knowingly letting disqualified, suspended, or out-of-service drivers operate a truck. This bill keeps those duties but broadens one rule so it applies to license suspensions or disqualifications from any state, not just one. The bill also adds a new limit on civil lawsuits. When someone sues an employer or insurance company over a commercial driver's actions, the bill says the driver's history of accidents and traffic violations can only be reviewed as far back as federal rules require. It also limits use of GPS data, video recordings, and other electronic vehicle data (like engine control module data) to only the date the accident or violation happened, not the driver's broader history. The bill does not include a stated effective date beyond the standard process, and it repeals conflicting laws.

• Expands an existing rule so employers cannot knowingly let a driver operate a commercial vehicle if their license is suspended, revoked, or canceled by any state, not just one specific state.
• Adds a new definition of 'driver's record' as the history of accidents and moving violation convictions tracked by the Department of Driver Services.
• Defines 'federal requirements' as the number of years federal law requires employers to check a driver's record, and caps civil lawsuit evidence about a driver's record to that same time window.
• Limits use of vehicle GPS data, video recordings, and electronic control module or onboard recording device data in lawsuits to only the specific date an accident or violation occurred.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these new evidentiary limits.

Commercial trucking companies and other employers of commercial vehicle drivers, their insurance providers, commercial driver's license holders, and Georgians who might sue a trucking company or insurer after an accident involving a commercial vehicle.

People injured in accidents involving commercial trucks would face new limits on the driving history and vehicle data evidence they can use to hold an employer or insurer liable, while employers still cannot knowingly allow disqualified drivers on the road under a now-broadened multi-state rule.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-5-145(b)(1) so the license suspension, revocation, cancellation, or disqualification rule covers any state, closing a gap where only one state's action was referenced.
• Section 1 adds subsection (c)(1) defining 'driver's record' and 'federal requirements' for purposes of civil litigation over commercial drivers.
• Section 1 adds subsection (c)(2)(A) limiting how far back a driver's accident and violation record can be examined in a civil case to the federally required lookback period.
• Section 1 adds subsection (c)(2)(B) limiting GPS, video, electronic control module, and onboard recording device data used in a civil case to the date of the specific accident or violation.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

1. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• Victor Anderson (R, HD-10)Primary sponsor
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-32)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-15)
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-14)
• Josh Bonner (R, HD-73)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)

• commercial trucking
• civil liability lawsuits
• insurance law
• motor vehicle regulation
• tort reform