--- title: SR 216. Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr216 cite_as: SR 216, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr216 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr216.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr216/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70570 date: 2025-04-02 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/sr215.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr217.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 457 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr216.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 216 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-04-02 last_action: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute sponsors: - Elena Parent - John Albers - Chuck Hufstetler - Kim Jackson - John Kennedy - Sally Harrell - Sonya Halpern - Jason Esteves - Clint Dixon - Randy Robertson - Bo Hatchett - Greg Dolezal - Steve Gooch text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR216/2025 upstream_id: 1976389 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - pedestrian safety - cyclist safety - traffic law - road safety study - Georgia Senate committees --- # SR 216. Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users; create ## Text 25 LC 39 4701S (SCS) Senate Resolution 216 By: Senators Parent of the 44th, Albers of the 56th, Hufstetler of the 52nd, Jackson of the 41st, Kennedy of the 18th and others ADOPTED SENATE A RESOLUTION Creating the Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users; and for other purposes.1 WHEREAS, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in Georgia have rise n from 11 percent to 192 percent over the past 15 years; and3 WHEREAS, Georgia ranked as the sixth-most dangerous state for p edestrians, according4 to 2022 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data; and5 WHEREAS, under Georgia law, striking a pedestrian is often trea ted as a minor offense6 unless injuries meet the high threshold of serious; and7 WHEREAS, serious injuries are frequently underreported when com paring police crash8 reports to Department of Public Health hospital impact and emergency room visit data in the9 Georgia Emergency Medical Services Information System and the Georgia Trauma Registry;10 and11 WHEREAS, some laws relating to traffic violations bureaus have not been amended in more12 than 50 years and thus allow defendants to bypass court appeara nces and accountability,13 S. R. 216 - 1 - 25 LC 39 4701S (SCS) leaving victims, including pedestrians and cyclists, without the opportunity to present victim14 impact statements; and15 WHEREAS, Georgia's infrastructure budgets and plans should be r eviewed to ensure16 investments are being made in safety countermeasures to reduce roadway fatalities and17 injuries; and18 WHEREAS, study of Georgia law is needed to determine appropriate penalties for harming19 vulnerable roadway users and to improve enforcement mechanisms, including revisions to20 violations of law handled in traffic violations bureaus.21 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:22 (1) Creation of Senate study committee. There is created the Senate Study Committee23 on Vulnerable Roadway Users.24 (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of five members of the25 Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate. The President shall designate one26 member of the committee as chairperson of the committee.27 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,28 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or29 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.30 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee31 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or32 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and33 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.34 (5) Allowances and funding.35 (A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided36 for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.37 S. R. 216 - 2 - 25 LC 39 4701S (SCS) (B) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member38 of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds39 necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds40 appropriated to the Senate.41 (6) Report.42 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that43 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the44 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to45 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.46 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for47 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)48 of this paragraph.49 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of50 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.51 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with52 the Secretary of the Senate.53 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Secretary54 of the Senate a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.55 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.56 S. R. 216 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Senate resolution creates the Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users to examine Georgia laws and penalties tied to pedestrian and cyclist safety on roads. ### Plain-language summary Pedestrian and cyclist deaths have risen sharply in Georgia over the past 15 years, and the resolution notes Georgia was ranked the sixth most dangerous state for pedestrians in 2022 federal data. It also points out that striking a pedestrian is often treated as a minor offense unless injuries are classified as serious, that injuries are frequently underreported, and that some traffic violations bureau laws have not been updated in decades. To address these concerns, the resolution creates a five-member Senate study committee appointed by the President of the Senate, with one member serving as chairperson. The committee will study these issues and can recommend legislation. It may hold meetings as needed, members receive standard legislative allowances (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) for up to five days unless more are authorized, and funding comes from the Senate's budget. The committee must file a report or meeting minutes before it is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates the Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users, made up of five senators appointed by the President of the Senate. - Directs the committee to study roadway safety issues affecting pedestrians and cyclists and recommend legislation if appropriate. - Authorizes the committee to hold meetings and provides legislative allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 for up to five days of work. - Funds the committee's work using money already appropriated to the Senate rather than new state funding. - Sets an abolishment date of December 1, 2025, by which the committee must file a report or meeting minutes. ### Who it affects Members of the Georgia Senate appointed to the new committee, pedestrians and cyclists whose safety and legal treatment as crash victims would be studied, and state agencies whose crash and infrastructure data the committee may review, including the Department of Public Health. ### Why it matters If enacted, the study could lead to future legislation changing penalties for drivers who hit pedestrians or cyclists, updating decades-old traffic violations bureau rules, and shaping infrastructure spending aimed at reducing roadway deaths and injuries in Georgia. ### Key provisions - Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Study Committee on Vulnerable Roadway Users. - Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at five senators appointed by the President of the Senate, who also names the chairperson. - Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study roadway safety conditions and recommend action or legislation it deems necessary. - Paragraph (5) sets member allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five days unless additional days are authorized, funded from Senate appropriations. - Paragraph (6) requires a report or, absent one, committee meeting minutes to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before abolishment. - Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-04-02) - Last action: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (2025-04-02) - Sponsors: Elena Parent, John Albers, Chuck Hufstetler, Kim Jackson, John Kennedy, Sally Harrell, Sonya Halpern, Jason Esteves, Clint Dixon, Randy Robertson, Bo Hatchett, Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70570 > The history, votes, and amendments (457 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr216.md?full=1