HB1194: HB1194 Insurance; clarify periods of time for transportation network company services

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24) sets insurance requirements for transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft and their drivers, based on defined periods of 'transportation network company services.' One period covers the time a driver is logged on and available before accepting a request. A second period currently covers the time from when a driver accepts a ride request until the ride or transaction is complete. This bill rewrites that second period. Instead of starting when the driver accepts the ride request, the period would start when the rider occupies the vehicle during a requested ride, and would continue until the driver completes the transaction or the ride is complete, whichever comes later. The bill also keeps the existing exclusion for taxis, limousine carriers, and other commercially registered and licensed vehicles from the definition. The change would take effect July 1, 2026, and would apply to insurance policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date.

• Rewrites part of the definition of 'transportation network company services' in Georgia's insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24) that governs required insurance coverage periods for rideshare drivers.
• Changes the starting point of the second coverage period from when a driver accepts a ride request to when the rider occupies the vehicle during that ride.
• Keeps the ending point of that period the same: when the driver completes the transaction or the ride is complete, whichever happens later.
• Retains the existing exclusion of taxis, limousine carriers (as defined in O.C.G.A. § 40-1-151), and other commercially licensed vehicles from the definition.
• Sets the changes to take effect July 1, 2026, applying to insurance policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date.

Rideshare drivers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft, the transportation network companies themselves, and insurance companies that write policies covering these drivers and vehicles in Georgia are directly affected by this change in coverage timing definitions.

Because insurance coverage requirements are tied to these defined time periods, narrowing when the second period begins could change which insurance policy (the driver's personal policy or the company's) is responsible for a crash between the moment a ride is accepted and the moment the rider actually gets in the car.

• Section 1 revises paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24, changing the trigger for the second defined service period from ride acceptance to the rider occupying the vehicle.
• Section 1 leaves unchanged the first period, covering the time a driver is logged on and available before accepting a ride request.
• Section 1 keeps the carve-out excluding taxis, limousine carriers, and other commercially registered and licensed vehicles from the definition of transportation network company services.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying to policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after that date.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-05House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-04House Hopper (House)

• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)

• rideshare insurance
• transportation network companies
• insurance law
• Uber and Lyft drivers
• auto insurance coverage