Committee approves bill clarifying that motorists must move to the right, when safe, during traffic stops

A House committee advanced bipartisan legislation clarifying that drivers must move to the right or to a safe location, when it is safe to do so, when a law‑enforcement officer attempts to stop a vehicle.

Representative Veil, sponsor of House Bill 11 61, said the bill responds to an identified legal gap: courts have sometimes read the existing 'yield for emergency vehicles' statute (OCGA § 40‑6‑74) to apply only to vehicles attempting to pass emergency vehicles rather than to motorists being stopped. 'Several cases... Jackson v. State and Burrell v. State' were cited by the sponsor as examples the bill aims to address by mirroring language already used for passing emergency vehicles.

Sergeant Ethridge of the Glynn County Police Department testified that case law has left officers uncertain whether stopping a vehicle in a left lane can be the basis for a violation, and that officers commonly see vehicles stopped in left lanes on highways such as I‑85. 'We went back and read the case law... and in both of these cases the appeals court decided that it only applied specifically to passing and not a stop,' Ethridge said.

Committee members pressed on practical concerns: Representative McCollum and others cited the 'freeze' effect when drivers see solid or unusual lights and stop unexpectedly in travel lanes, and asked how the bill would avoid criminalizing motorists who seek a safer place to stop. Sponsor Veil said the bill includes language requiring the move 'when it is safe to do so' and that the measure intends to harmonize the code with law‑enforcement best practices rather than create a black‑and‑white mandate.

Representative Neal moved to pass the bill; the committee seconded the motion and advanced the measure, sending it on to Rules.