Committee holds hearing on HB 809 to raise Georgia's minimum highway speed

Representative (speaker 14) opened a hearing on HB 809, which proposes raising Georgia’s minimum speed limit on certain state highways while not changing maximum speed limits. He said the bill is aimed at reducing speed differentials on high‑speed roads and lowering rear‑end collisions, and cited O.C.G.A. §40‑6‑184 — a statute that allows the commissioner of public safety and the commissioner of transportation to set minimum speeds after engineering and traffic investigations.

The sponsor told the committee he had letters of support from the Georgia Sheriffs Association, the Georgia Chiefs of Police and the Department of Public Safety and that the Department of Transportation (DOT) could possibly implement changes administratively but that a statewide approach would require coordination. He noted he had asked DOT for a cost estimate of signage and implementation but had not yet received it.

Committee members raised concerns about safety for seniors and student drivers, how the law would be enforced, whether fines would apply for driving slightly under a new minimum, and where the data show rear‑end collisions occur on the roadway. The sponsor said the statutory framework already allows engineering studies before declaring minimum speeds and emphasized the proposal targets roads with posted limits of 65 mph or higher.

The committee treated HB 809 as a hearing only so staff could gather additional information from DOT and public safety; no vote to advance the bill was recorded in the transcript.