---
title: HB 986. Motor vehicles; personal delivery devices; revise operation procedures and restrictions
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb986
cite_as: HB 986, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb986
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb986.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb986/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72246
date: 2026-05-11
status: passed
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.
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previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb985.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb987.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 947
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb986.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 986
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01
sponsors:
- Todd Jones
- Scott Hilton
- David Huddleston
- Rick Townsend
- Carter Barrett
- Frank Ginn
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB986/2025
upstream_id: 2083404
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- personal delivery devices
- sidewalk robots
- pedestrian safety
- traffic law
- motor vehicle regulations
---
# HB 986. Motor vehicles; personal delivery devices; revise operation procedures and restrictions
## Text
House Bill 986 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Jones of the 25th, Hilton of the 48th, Huddleston of the 72nd, Townsend
of the 179th, and Barrett of the 24th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 2A of Article 13 of Chapter 6 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to electric personal assistive mobility devices and personal delivery
devices, so as to revise operation procedures and restrictions for personal delivery devices;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 2A of Article 13 of Chapter 6 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to electric personal assistive mobility devices and personal delivery devices, is
amended by revising Code Section 40-6-321, relating to avoiding collisions, yielding the
right of way, and warning of approach, as follows:
"40-6-321.
Any person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device or a personal delivery
device on a sidewalk or roadway shall comply with the requirements of this part or any
local ordinance regulating the use of such devices pursuant to Code Section 40-6-371 and
shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with, and shall yield the right of way to, persons
traveling on foot. A personal delivery device shall emit a sound when approaching in
motion and within six feet of a vehicle, person on foot, or individual in a wheelchair."
SECTION 2.
Said part is further amended in Code Section 40-6-322, relating to speed of travel restricted,
by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b) Operation of a personal delivery device shall be limited to:
(1) A speed of no greater than 20 miles per hour when upon a bicycle lane, shoulder, or
roadway;
(2) A speed of no greater than four seven miles per hour when upon a sidewalk or within
a shared use path or safety zone; and
(3) A speed of no less than 3.5 feet per second and no more than four seven miles per
hour when within a crosswalk."
SECTION 3.
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.
House Bill 986 raises the speed limit for sidewalk-delivery robots in Georgia and changes when they must beep to warn pedestrians, updating rules first set for these devices.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law already allows small wheeled robots called personal delivery devices to operate on sidewalks and roadways to deliver packages or food. This bill updates two of the safety rules that govern how these devices behave around people.
First, it changes when a delivery device must make a warning sound: instead of beeping only when approaching a person or vehicle, it must now emit a sound whenever it is in motion and within six feet of a vehicle, pedestrian, or person in a wheelchair. Second, it raises the maximum speed allowed on sidewalks, shared use paths, safety zones, and crosswalks from four miles per hour to seven miles per hour. The speed limit on bike lanes, shoulders, and roadways stays at 20 miles per hour. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
### What it does
- Changes the warning sound requirement so a personal delivery device must beep whenever it is in motion and within six feet of a vehicle, pedestrian, or wheelchair user, not just when approaching them.
- Raises the top speed for delivery devices on sidewalks, shared use paths, and safety zones from 4 miles per hour to 7 miles per hour.
- Raises the top speed allowed within crosswalks from 4 miles per hour to 7 miles per hour, while keeping the 3.5 feet per second minimum.
- Leaves the 20 mile per hour speed limit unchanged for delivery devices operating in bicycle lanes, on shoulders, or on roadways.
- Requires operators of these devices to still follow local ordinances and to yield the right of way to people on foot.
### Who it affects
Companies that operate sidewalk delivery robots in Georgia, pedestrians and wheelchair users who share sidewalks and crosswalks with these devices, and local governments that regulate device use through ordinances under existing law.
### Why it matters
Pedestrians will encounter these delivery robots moving nearly twice as fast on sidewalks and in crosswalks as before, while the change to the warning sound rule means devices will beep more often near people, even when not directly approaching them.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-321 so the required warning sound triggers when a device is in motion and within six feet of a person or vehicle, rather than only when approaching.
- Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-322(b)(2) to raise the sidewalk, shared use path, and safety zone speed cap from 4 to 7 miles per hour.
- Section 2 also rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-6-322(b)(3) to raise the crosswalk speed cap from 4 to 7 miles per hour, keeping the 3.5 feet per second floor.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Todd Jones, Scott Hilton, David Huddleston, Rick Townsend, Carter Barrett, Frank Ginn
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72246
> The history, votes, and amendments (947 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb986.md?full=1