---
title: SB 280. Commercial Drivers' Licenses; standards for liability of an employer or insurance provider for actions relating to a commercial vehicle driver; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb280
cite_as: SB 280, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb280
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb280.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb280/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70923
date: 2025-02-27
status: introduced
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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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb280.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 280
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-26
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Jason Anavitarte
- Steve Gooch
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB280/2025
upstream_id: 1986020
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- commercial driver's licenses
- trucking regulations
- civil liability law
- insurance law
- transportation safety
---
# SB 280. Commercial Drivers' Licenses; standards for liability of an employer or insurance provider for actions relating to a commercial vehicle driver; provide
## Text
Senate Bill 280
By: Senators Anavitarte of the 31st and Gooch of the 51st
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 7 of Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to commercial drivers' licenses, so as to provide standards for liability of an
employer or insurance provider for actions relating to a commercial vehicle driver; to provide
for definitions; 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 7 of Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
commercial drivers' licenses, is amended by revising Code Section 40-5-145, relating to
duties of employer, as follows:
"40-5-145.
(a) Each employer shall require every commercial motor vehicle driver applicant to
provide the information specified in subsection (d) of Code Section 40-5-144.
(b) No employer may knowingly allow, require, permit, or authorize a driver to drive a
commercial motor vehicle during any period:
(1) In which the driver has a driver's license suspended, revoked, or canceled by a any
state; has lost the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle in a any state; or has been
disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle;
(2) In which the driver has more than one driver's license;
(3) In which the driver, or the commercial motor vehicle that he or she is driving, or the
motor carrier operation, is subject to an out of service order; or
(4) In violation of a federal, state, or local law or regulation pertaining to
railroad-highway grade crossings.
(c)(1) As used in this subsection, the term:
(A) 'Driver's record' means investigation of a driver's safety performance history
through an enumeration of accidents and convictions of moving traffic violations as
provided by the department pursuant to Code Section 40-5-2.
(B) 'Federal requirements' means the number of years an employer of a commercial
motor vehicle driver is required to investigate of a driver's record pursuant to federal
law.
(2) For purposes of establishing liability of any employer or insurance provider in a civil
action relating to the holder of a commercial driver's license, use of:
(A) The driver's record shall be limited to federal requirements; and
(B) Any vehicle global positioning system data or video recordings, including
electronic control module data and any onboard electronic recording devices, shall be
limited to the date an accident or moving violation occurred."
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 Senate bill would limit how far back trucking companies' driving records and vehicle data can be used against them in lawsuits over commercial truck drivers.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law already requires employers of commercial truck drivers to check driver histories and bars them from letting disqualified or suspended drivers operate commercial vehicles. This bill keeps those existing duties but adds a new limit on what evidence can be used against an employer or its insurance provider in a civil lawsuit tied to a commercial driver's license holder.
Under the bill, a driver's safety record (crashes and moving violation convictions) could only be looked at as far back as federal rules require employers to check. Separately, GPS data, video recordings, electronic control module data, and other onboard recording device data could only be used from the date the specific accident or violation happened, not from other time periods. The bill defines both key terms and repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.
### What it does
- Amends Georgia's commercial driver employer duties law (O.C.G.A. § 40-5-145) to add new limits on evidence usable in civil lawsuits.
- Restricts use of a driver's safety record in liability cases to the time period required by federal driver-record investigation rules.
- Restricts use of GPS data, video recordings, and electronic control module or onboard recorder data to the date of the specific accident or violation at issue.
- Defines 'driver's record' and 'federal requirements' for purposes of these liability rules.
- Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these new limits.
### Who it affects
Trucking companies and other employers of commercial motor vehicle drivers, their insurance providers, commercial drivers themselves, and people who might sue an employer or insurer after a crash involving a commercial truck in Georgia.
### Why it matters
The bill would change what evidence plaintiffs' attorneys can present in lawsuits against trucking companies after accidents, potentially narrowing the driving history and vehicle data record juries see, which could affect how liability cases against employers and insurers are argued and decided.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 40-5-145 but keeps the existing rule requiring employers to collect driver application information and barring them from knowingly letting disqualified or unlicensed drivers operate commercial vehicles.
- New subsection (c)(1) defines 'driver's record' as the safety performance history of accidents and moving violation convictions tracked by the Department of Driver Services under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-2.
- New subsection (c)(1) also defines 'federal requirements' as the number of years federal law requires an employer to investigate a driver's record.
- New subsection (c)(2) limits use of a driver's record in civil liability cases against employers or insurers to that federal time window.
- New subsection (c)(2) also limits use of GPS data, video recordings, electronic control module data, and onboard recording device data to the date of the accident or moving violation itself.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-26)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-27)
- Sponsors: Jason Anavitarte, Steve Gooch
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70923
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb280.md?full=1