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HB 461GEORGIASession 2025_26State Billdead
Did Not Advance

Georgia House Bill 461 permits motorcycle and bicycle operators to proceed through broken traffic signals and updates crosswalk rules

Original title: Motorcycle Mobility Safety Act; enact

Last action · February 24, 2026: House Committee Favorably Reported By SubstituteSponsors: Brad Thomas and 4 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Proposed

Georgia House Bill 461 allows motorcycle and bicycle riders to safely proceed through malfunctioning traffic-control signals after waiting through at least two light cycles, provided the intersection is clear. The measure also requires drivers to stop at crosswalks equipped with s, prohibits false activation of these pedestrian signals, and updates definitions for off-road vehicles.

Why it matters

Motorcyclists and bicyclists gain legal clearance to navigate intersections where lightweight vehicles fail to trigger sensor-driven traffic lights, while drivers face new mandatory stopping rules at specific pedestrian crosswalks.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Motorcycle operators

Motorcycle riders gain the legal right to proceed through broken or non-responsive traffic signals under specific safety conditions.

Directly affected

Bicycle operators

Bicyclists are granted the same legal allowance to bypass inoperative traffic signals as motorcycle riders.

Directly affected

Drivers of motor vehicles

Drivers must now stop and remain stopped at crosswalks when rectangular rapid flash beacons are activated.

Directly affected

Pedestrians

Pedestrians receive mandatory stopping protections at crosswalks equipped with rapid flash beacons and face restrictions against false beacon activation.

Key Facts

  • Motorcycle and bicycle operators may disregard an inoperative traffic signal at an intersection with recorded image or surveillance technology if they reasonably believe the light fails to detect them due to their lightweight design.
  • A reasonable belief that a signal is inoperative includes observing at least two light cycle changes.
  • Drivers proceeding through an inoperative signal must ensure no other motor vehicle is within 500 feet approaching the intersection from a different or opposite direction.
  • Drivers of motor vehicles must stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross within a crosswalk when an approved rectangular rapid flash beacon or similar device is activated.
Show all 8 facts
  • It is unlawful for any person to manually activate or intentionally cause a rectangular rapid flash beacon to operate when there is no intent to cross the roadway.
  • A driver causing an accident while purporting to act under the inoperative signal exception is presumed prima facie to have failed to exercise requisite caution.
  • The term 'Rectangular rapid flash beacon' is formally defined in Title 40 code definitions.
  • The term 'Recreational off-highway vehicle' is defined as a motorized off-road vehicle with four or more nonhighway tires and a width of 65 inches or less.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can motorcyclists run a red light under this bill?
Only if the traffic-control signal is inoperative due to the lightweight design of the motorcycle failing to trigger the sensor, the rider has observed at least two light cycle changes, no other vehicle is within 500 feet, and the rider proceeds with caution.
What is a rectangular rapid flash beacon?
It is a user-activated device emitting irregular flash patterns with amber light-emitting diodes that supplement warning signals at unsignalized intersections or mid-block crosswalks.
Is it illegal to activate a pedestrian beacon if you do not plan to cross the street?
Yes, the bill explicitly makes it unlawful to manually or intentionally activate a when there is no intent to cross the roadway.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

6 actions
  1. Feb 24, 2026HouseCommittee
    House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
  2. Apr 4, 2025House
    House Withdrawn, Recommitted
  3. Feb 26, 2025HouseCommittee
    House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
  4. Feb 18, 2025House
    House Second Readers
  5. Feb 13, 2025HouseIntroduced
    House Hopper
  6. Feb 13, 2025HouseIntroduced
    House First Readers

Version history & redline

3 versions on file
Comparing LC 39 4668S/hs → LC 39 4951S/hs
removed addedOfficial text
removed: 25 added: 26 LC 39 removed: 4668S added: 4951S The House Committee on Motor Vehicles offers the following substitute to HB 461: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 40 […] pedestrian activated rectangular rapid flash beacons; to make it unlawful to activate such devices when there is no intent to cross a roadway; to added: authorize the operation of motorcycles to overtake or pass stationary motor vehicles in the same lane as such motorcycle in certain instances; to provide for a added: conforming change; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: […] to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle." SECTION 5. added: Said title is further amended by revising Code Section 40-6-312, relating to operating motorcycle on roadway laned for traffic, as follows: "40-6-312. (a) All motorcycles are entitled to full use of a lane, and no motor vehicle shall be driven in such a manner as to deprive any motorcycle of the full use of a lane. This subsection shall not apply to motorcycles operated two abreast in a single lane. (b) The operator of a motorcycle shall not be authorized to overtake and pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken when: (1) The motorcycle is being driven to overtake and pass stationary vehicles or gain access to an adjacent turning lane while such stationary vehicles are waiting for the change of direction for a traffic-control signal; and (2) The motorcycle is traveling at a speed of 15 miles per hour or less. (c) No person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles. (d) Motorcycles shall not be operated more than two abreast in a single lane. (e)(d) A person operating a motorcycle shall at all times keep his the headlights and taillights illuminated. (f)(e) Subsection Subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall not apply to police officers in the performance of their official duties." SECTION 6. Said title is further amended by revising Code Section 40-6-350, relating to traffic laws applicable to persons operating mopeds, as follows: "40-6-350. Every person operating a moped shall be granted all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle under this chapter except as to special regulations in this part and except as to those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application. However, the operator of a moped shall not be required to comply with subsection (e) (d) of Code Section 40-6-312, relating to headlights and taillights, or subsection (b) of Code Section 40-6-315, relating to windshields and eye-protective devices." SECTION 7. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Brad ThomasHouse · District 21RepublicanPrimary sponsor
Alan PowellHouse · District 33RepublicanCosponsor
Danny MathisHouse · District 133RepublicanCosponsor
Derrick McCollumHouse · District 30RepublicanCosponsor
Brent CoxHouse · District 28RepublicanCosponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift98% confidence

Legalization of Signal Bypass for Lightweight Vehicles

The bill creates a specific statutory exemption allowing motorcycles and bicycles to legally bypass sensor-based traffic signals that fail to detect them.

Connected Entities

General Assembly of Georgia
OrganizationGeneral Assembly of Georgia“Legislative body passing the bill”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.ga.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
  • Controversy15
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz25
    Current news / social attention level

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