HB 721: Motor vehicles; transportation referral service providers and ride share network services; provisions

Georgia law already regulates ride share network services (like Uber and Lyft) and transportation referral service providers (such as taxi dispatch companies) under O.C.G.A. §§ 40-1-192 and 40-1-193. This bill adds new requirements to both types of companies aimed at driver safety and privacy protection. Companies would have to tell drivers whether the location where they're being sent has a violent crime rate higher than the national average, using FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program statistics. They would also have to secure the personal information they collect from both drivers and passengers, and set up a grievance process so drivers have a way to raise complaints. These same three new duties are added separately to the law governing transportation referral services and the law governing ride share network services. The bill does not specify penalties for noncompliance or set an effective date beyond the standard process, and it repeals any conflicting laws.

• Requires transportation referral service providers to tell drivers if their assigned pickup location has an above-average violent crime rate, based on FBI crime data.
• Requires ride share network services (like Uber and Lyft) to give drivers the same crime-rate warning for their assigned locations.
• Requires both types of companies to secure the privacy of personal information collected from drivers and passengers.
• Requires both types of companies to create a grievance process drivers can use to raise complaints.
• Amends O.C.G.A. §§ 40-1-192 and 40-1-193 by adding three new paragraphs of requirements to each section.

Ride share drivers and passengers, ride share companies such as Uber and Lyft, transportation referral service providers like taxi dispatch companies, and by extension anyone who books rides through these services in Georgia.

Drivers would get advance notice about potentially dangerous pickup areas before accepting a ride, giving them more information to decide whether to proceed. Companies would also face new obligations to protect rider and driver data and to formally hear driver complaints, changing how these businesses operate day to day.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-1-192 (transportation referral service providers) to add paragraphs (11)-(13) covering crime-rate notification, data privacy, and a grievance process.
• Section 2 makes the identical three additions, paragraphs (6)-(8), to O.C.G.A. § 40-1-193 (ride share network services).
• The crime-rate comparison is defined using violent crime statistics from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program compared to the national average.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws but does not create new penalties or enforcement mechanisms for the new requirements.

1. 2025-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-04House Hopper (House)

• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)Primary sponsor
• Eric Bell (D, HD-75)
• Dexter Sharper (D, HD-177)

• ride share safety
• driver privacy
• Uber and Lyft regulation
• transportation law
• crime rate notification