--- title: HB 705. Motor vehicles; prohibit traffic stop on sole basis that the person is operating a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle paraphernalia collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb705 cite_as: HB 705, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb705 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb705.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb705/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71073 date: 2025-03-06 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12 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/hb704.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb706.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb705.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 705 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-03 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Solomon Adesanya - Dewey McClain - Jordan Ridley text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB705/2025 upstream_id: 1990380 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - motorcycle riders - traffic stops - police stops - motor vehicle law --- # HB 705. Motor vehicles; prohibit traffic stop on sole basis that the person is operating a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle paraphernalia ## Text House Bill 705 By: Representatives Adesanya of the 43rd, McClain of the 109th, and Ridley of the 22nd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to identification and regulation of motor vehicles and traffic, so as to prohibit a motor vehicle traffic stop on the sole basis that the person is operating a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle related paraphernalia; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to identification and regulation of motor vehicles and traffic, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: "40-1-10. A police officer may, upon reasonable articulable suspicion that a motor vehicle is being operated in violation of any provision of this title, stop or detain such vehicle. A traffic stop based on a reasonable articulable suspicion predicated solely on the fact that a person is operating a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle related paraphernalia shall be unlawful." 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 bar police from stopping a motor vehicle solely because the driver is riding a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle-related clothing or gear. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, a police officer may stop a vehicle based on reasonable articulable suspicion that a traffic law is being violated. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's motor vehicle code clarifying that officers keep that general stop authority, but it specifically makes it unlawful to base a traffic stop solely on the fact that someone is riding a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle-related paraphernalia, such as branded jackets, patches, or gear associated with motorcycle clubs. The bill adds this rule as new Code section 40-1-10 within Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. It does not change any other traffic enforcement rules and repeals any conflicting laws. No specific effective date is listed beyond the standard process for a bill becoming law. ### What it does - Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. ยง 40-1-10) confirming police can stop a vehicle based on reasonable articulable suspicion of a traffic law violation. - Makes it illegal for a traffic stop to be based solely on a person operating a motorcycle. - Makes it illegal for a traffic stop to be based solely on a person wearing motorcycle related paraphernalia, such as clothing or gear tied to motorcycle riding or clubs. - Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with this new rule. ### Who it affects Motorcycle riders in Georgia, who would gain a specific legal protection against being pulled over just for riding or their gear, and police officers, who would need to base motorcycle-related stops on more than just those two factors. ### Why it matters If enacted, motorcyclists could not be pulled over simply for riding a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle gear, such as club patches. Officers would still need another reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation to justify a stop, potentially reducing stops some riders view as based on appearance alone. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds new Code section 40-1-10 to Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. - The new section preserves an officer's authority to stop a vehicle based on reasonable articulable suspicion of a violation of Title 40 (Georgia's motor vehicle laws). - The new section declares unlawful any traffic stop where the sole basis for suspicion is that the person is operating a motorcycle or wearing motorcycle related paraphernalia. - Section 2 repeals all laws or parts of laws that conflict with the new provision. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-03) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-06) - Sponsors: Solomon Adesanya, Dewey McClain, Jordan Ridley - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71073 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb705.md?full=1