SB 280: Commercial Drivers' Licenses; standards for liability of an employer or insurance provider for actions relating to a commercial vehicle driver; provide

Current Georgia law already bars employers from knowingly letting drivers operate commercial trucks if their license is suspended, revoked, or disqualified, or if the vehicle is under an out-of-service order. This bill keeps those rules but broadens them slightly, changing references from 'a state' to 'any state' so the ban applies no matter which state suspended or revoked a driver's privileges. The bigger change adds a new subsection to O.C.G.A. § 40-5-145. It says that in a civil lawsuit over liability tied to a commercial driver's license holder, a driver's safety history can only be checked as far back as federal law requires, not further. It also says that GPS location data, video recordings, engine control module data, and other onboard recording device data can only be used from the date the accident or traffic violation actually happened, not from other dates. The bill defines 'driver's record' and 'federal requirements' to clarify these limits. It repeals conflicting laws and does not state a separate effective date beyond the standard process.

• Bars employers from knowingly letting a driver operate a commercial vehicle whose license is suspended, revoked, or canceled by any state, broadening the rule beyond a single state.
• Adds a new legal standard limiting how far back a commercial driver's safety record can be reviewed in civil lawsuits, capping it at what federal law requires.
• Limits the use of GPS data, video recordings, engine control module data, and onboard recording device data in civil liability cases to only the date of the accident or violation in question.
• Defines 'driver's record' and 'federal requirements' as legal terms for use in determining employer or insurance provider liability.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these new standards.

Trucking companies and other employers of commercial driver's license holders, insurance providers that cover them, commercial truck drivers themselves, and people who bring civil lawsuits after accidents involving commercial vehicles, including injured parties and their attorneys.

By narrowing what evidence, such as older driving records or data from times unrelated to the crash, can be used against a trucking company or insurer in a lawsuit, the bill could make it harder for plaintiffs to show a pattern of negligent hiring or supervision, changing how these civil cases are litigated in Georgia courts.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 40-5-145(b) so the ban on employing disqualified drivers applies when a license is suspended or revoked by 'any state,' not just 'a state.'
• Section 1 adds new subsection (c)(1) defining 'driver's record' as a driver's accident and moving violation history maintained by the Department of Driver Services, and 'federal requirements' as the federal lookback period for that history.
• Section 1 adds new subsection (c)(2)(A) limiting use of a driver's record in civil liability cases to the federal lookback period.
• Section 1 adds new subsection (c)(2)(B) limiting use of GPS data, video recordings, engine control module data, and onboard recording device data in civil liability cases to the date of the accident or violation.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

1. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)Primary sponsor
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-51)

• commercial trucking
• liability law
• commercial driver's licenses
• trucking lawsuits
• insurance law