Committee advances bill to raise minimum interstate speed to 50 mph on interstates and Georgia 400

House Bill 809 (LC 394961s) was presented to the committee as a compromise measure to narrow the gap between existing minimum and maximum speed limits on interstates and Georgia 400.

The sponsor told the committee the bill limits the new minimum speed of 50 miles per hour to interstates and Georgia 400, not to all highways with 65-mph maximums. The sponsor said letters of support came from public-safety stakeholders and said the change is aimed at reducing rear-end collisions caused by large gaps between minimum and maximum speeds. The sponsor reported an effective date was set in the draft to July 1, 2027, to give GDOT and state and local law enforcement time to implement the change.

The sponsor provided an implementation estimate from GDOT of roughly 980 sign replacements statewide at under $1,000 per sign, which the sponsor said would put the total well under $1,000,000 for sign replacement across the rollout. Committee members asked about enforcement implications, particularly for older drivers, and about how existing 'slow traffic keep right' language would be applied after the change. The sponsor said the slow-traffic rule remains in force and that the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety would coordinate a marketing and outreach campaign with the sign roll-out.

A committee member moved that the bill 'Do pass,' the motion was seconded, and the committee advanced House Bill 809 by voice vote; the transcript records only the voice vote results ('Aye') and does not include a roll-call tally in the record.

Next steps: HB 809 was advanced from committee and will proceed according to the legislative schedule.