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GDOT bill prompts debate over towing incentives and scope of roadside removal program
Summary
HB 575, a GDOT-sponsored bill containing several departmental changes including codifying the 'trip' incentive towing program, drew extensive committee questions about when the state may authorize paid tows; the committee set the bill aside for further drafting and stakeholder meetings.
A Georgia Department of Transportation bill that would codify several departmental practices, including a program that pays incentives to tow companies to remove large commercial vehicle crashes quickly from interstates, drew sustained questions about scope and safeguards before the committee set the bill aside for further work.
Representative McCollum presented HB 575 (LC 394708S) as a department bill that would alter four areas: the public-notice period for hearings, authority to negotiate with condominium associations, formalizing GDOT's trip program that pays incentives to remove large commercial vehicles, and earlier coordination to relocate utilities before widening projects.
"Section 3 codifies GDOT's trip program to pay bonuses to get truck and trailers off our interstates faster and get traffic moving," Representative McCollum said. The provision drew immediate scrutiny about whether the language was broad enough to allow towing companies to remove vehicles that were broken down but not blocking travel lanes, potentially leading to inadvertent tows of owner-operators who could otherwise move vehicles.
Josh, a GDOT operations official, told the committee: "This program... actually exists today under our general powers. We've already stood this up. ... There's an incentive payment paid to them on top of whatever they're gonna collect from the insurance to get it removed within 90 minutes." He emphasized the provision is intended to clarify roles among GDOT, local law enforcement and tow providers and would not change day-to-day operations.
Committee members, including Senators Joe Ward and Moore, raised concerns that the bill's language could be used to remove trucks that were stalled on the shoulder while drivers remedied problems. Ward urged tightening the language so the incentive applies to wrecks that close lanes rather than any inoperable vehicle. Senator Moore suggested limiting triggers to vehicles "impeding traffic" or otherwise specifying travel lanes to avoid overreach.
Multiple members proposed technical fixes, including narrowing triggers to vehicles blocking travel lanes, adding time limits for removal, and clarifying the chain of command among law enforcement, GDOT and tower operators. After extended floor discussion, committee leaders opted to set HB 575 aside and form a working group to draft clarifying language and return the bill later rather than vote on it that day.
The committee took no final vote on HB 575; the bill was set aside pending stakeholder meetings and drafting changes.
