Traffic Laws: Speed Limits and Super Speeder, Railroad Crossings, Work Zones, and Other Laws (Controlled Access, DUI, Reckless and Aggressive Driving, Headlights, Seat Belts, Child Restraints, Distraction, Litter and the Hands-Free Law)
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Georgia driver's license knowledge exam. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Georgia Driver's Manual 2023–2024, Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS), section 5 "Traffic Laws": traveling speed, railroad crossings, highway work zones and other laws (pp. 21–25).
Speed
Super Speeder: a conviction for 75 mph or more on a two-lane road, or 85 mph or more anywhere, adds a $200 state fee on top of local fines; failing to pay on time suspends the license and adds a $50 reinstatement fee.
Unless posted otherwise, Georgia's limits are 30 mph in urban or residential districts, 35 mph on unpaved county roads, 70 mph on rural interstates, 65 mph on urban interstates and multi-lane divided highways, and 55 mph everywhere else. Local governments, GDOT and Public Safety can raise or lower them, and school and construction zones may post lower limits at certain hours, so watch for signs.
Driving too slowly so that it impedes normal traffic is illegal unless safety requires it, and on multi-lane roads you may not stay in the passing lane while a faster vehicle overtakes; penalties reach $1,000 and 3 points. Slower vehicles use the right lane except to pass or turn left. Some highways post minimum limits; if you cannot keep up, take another route.
Railroad crossings
Stop within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail when a signal flashes, the gates are down, a flagger signals, a train is close enough to be an immediate hazard, a train sounds a warning, or a stop sign is posted. Never drive through, around or under a lowered gate. Stay stopped until all tracks are clear, the signals stop and the gates rise. The seven steps: approach with care, prepare to stop, look both ways and listen, "if it won't fit, don't commit" (do not enter unless you can clear the crossing without stopping), look again, cross with care, and keep going once you start. If you stall on the tracks, get out at once, move away, find the blue Emergency Notification System sign and call the number to report a vehicle on the tracks.
Work zones
GDOT does most work without closing roads, which endangers workers and drivers; motorists are 82 percent of work zone deaths nationwide. Watch for orange: work zone warning signs are orange with black letters or symbols. Speed limits are usually reduced; black-and-orange advisory plaques suggest safe speeds, while standard black-and-white signs set legal limits, and speeding in a work zone is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature with a fine of $100 to $2,000, up to 12 months in jail, or both. A flagger has the authority of a regulatory sign. Yield to work vehicles with flashing amber lights and to slow mobile work vehicles (striping, debris removal, utility work), which may show arrows telling you to merge. Change lanes away from workers or shift within your lane. Four tips: reduce speed, watch for speed signs (fines increase in most zones), move away from workers, and expect the unexpected.
Other laws
- Controlled-access roads: enter and exit only at authorized points; posted vehicle bans apply; backing up is prohibited. Tolled Express Lanes (I-85, reversible I-75) require a registered Peach Pass transponder, also usable in Florida and North Carolina; entering the reversible lanes when the gates are closed or closing is prohibited.
- Coasting downhill in neutral is illegal.
- DUI: driving under the influence of alcohol, any drug (prescription or illegal) or any impairing substance is illegal. At 21 or older you are under the influence at .08 grams or more; under 21 at .02 or more, irrefutably. A prescription is no defense. Penalties include fines to $1,000, jail to 12 months and mandatory suspension.
- Reckless driving is driving in reckless disregard for people or property (speeding, weaving, improper passing): up to $1,000, up to 12 months, and suspension for drivers under 21.
- Racing is two or more competing on a road, one driver preventing another from passing by speed or maneuver, or racing against time.
- Aggressive driving is driving with intent to annoy, harass, intimidate, injure or obstruct someone (tailgating, cutting in, blocking a lane change): a high and aggravated misdemeanor with jail, fines and suspension under 21.
- Reckless stunt driving (drag racing or laying drags in reckless disregard): first conviction in 5 years a 12-month suspension, early reinstatement after 120 days, $210 fee ($200 by mail), limited permit available; second, 3 years, early reinstatement after 18 months, $310; third, Habitual Violator revocation with no limited permit, probationary license possible.
- Trucks and trailers outside business and residential districts must leave room between them for a passing vehicle to pull in (no "caravanning"); trailers wider than 8 feet 6 inches are banned; riding in a trailer being towed is illegal.
- Do not cross a median except at an authorized opening. Headphones or headsets that impair hearing and anything obstructing vision are illegal. A vehicle overloaded so that the driver's view or control is blocked may not be driven. Do not open a door into traffic unless it is safe and will not interfere with traffic or bicyclists. Never drive against a one-way street. When stopping or slowing suddenly, give the hand, arm or brake-light signal.
- Headlights: required from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, in rain, and whenever visibility is limited. Use high beams only in rural areas away from other cars; dim within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle, within 200 feet behind another vehicle, on lighted roads, in rain, fog, snow or smoke, and when vision drops below 200 feet.
- Night driving: keep lights clean and aimed; do not overdrive your headlights (never a speed whose stopping distance exceeds what they light); slow for oncoming traffic and curves; use the edge line or center line as a guide; keep the windshield clean; stop if tired; watch for signs, pedestrians and stopped vehicles; do not stop on the road.
- Safety belts: every front-seat occupant must wear a lap and shoulder belt, and everyone under 18 must be belted in any seat. Belts cut fatality risk about 45 percent and saved 12,802 lives in 2014. Georgia's belt law is primary: an officer may stop you for it alone.
- Child restraints: a child under 8 must ride in a child passenger restraint appropriate to height and weight meeting federal standard 213, except in taxis and public transit.
- Distracted driving killed 3,142 people nationally in 2019; Georgia law requires due care and prohibits any action that distracts from safe driving. Do not follow fire apparatus or other emergency vehicles closer than 200 feet, or park within 500 feet of fire apparatus at a fire.
- Litter: dumping anything from a vehicle violates the Litter Control Law, a misdemeanor with up to $1,000 and 12 months, plus possible litter pickup.
- Postal and sanitation vehicles with flashing lights: change to a non-adjacent lane, or if you cannot, slow to at least 10 mph under the limit or 25 mph, whichever is more, ready to stop; fine up to $250.
- Hands-Free Law (HB 673, 2018): you may not hold or support a phone or stand-alone electronic device with any part of the body, nor write, send or read texts, e-mail or internet data, nor watch, record or broadcast video. Use headphones, a wireless device, a holder or a mount. Penalties: first conviction 1 point and up to $50; second 2 points and up to $100; third or more 3 points and up to $150.
Practise this with Georgia Driver License questions
More of this guide
The 30-day residency rule and exemptions, 20/60 vision, Classes C, D, M, E and F and permit fees, Real ID documents, the Class C permit at 15, the Class D provisional license at 16 with Joshua's Law driver education and 40 supervised hours, the Class C license, transfers for new residents, the road signs and road rules exams (15 of 20), and the road test maneuvers.
TADRA's three phases, school enrollment proof, the responsible adult, Joshua's Law, teens moving to Georgia, parent-requested revocation, under-21 suspensions for reckless driving, racing, 4-point offenses and DUI, renewal by mail, voter registration, the $10 replacement and its documents, 60-day address and name changes, MVR fees and donations.
The three basic laws, who yields to whom, turns on red, the school bus rule and the median exception, how to pass on a two-lane road and where passing is prohibited (100 feet from a crossing or bridge, 200 feet from oncoming traffic), hand signals, right and left turns, U-turns, where you may never stop or park (15, 20, 30, 50 and 75 feet rules), parallel parking, keep right except to pass, and backing up.
The seven sign shapes and their colors, regulatory, warning, guide, construction and service signs, express lanes, signal colors and arrows including the flashing yellow arrow, dark and flashing signals, lane control and pedestrian signals, the pedestrian hybrid beacon, stop and crosswalk lines, center, no-passing, double white, edge and lane lines, traffic striping, two-way left turn lanes, bicycle lanes and roundabouts.
The penny test, entering the car, 9-and-3 steering, low beams in fog, hydroplaning at 35 and 55 mph, steering into a skid, advisory speeds on curves, leaving the pavement without jerking the wheel, blowouts, winter driving, carbon monoxide, the two-second rule, stopping distance factors, entering and exiting expressways, gores, HOV and HOT lanes, highway hypnosis, jammed accelerators and brake failure, and metro Atlanta emissions testing.
When you must stop for pedestrians, unmarked crosswalks, right on red and pedestrians, the 10-foot rule on multi-lane roads, bicyclists' right to the full lane and the three-foot passing law, bicycle arm signals, giving motorcycles a full lane and three to four seconds, the school bus stop law and its penalties, 80,000-pound trucks and their side, rear and front No-Zones, the TACT project, and trailering.
Cancellation, revocation, suspension and commercial disqualification, mandatory suspension offenses, implied consent and the one-year refusal suspension, the points chart and the 15-point, under-21 and under-18 suspensions, the 7-point reduction and 20 percent fine reduction, the Safety Responsibility Law, habitual violators, limited driving permits, CDL major and serious violations, and what to do after a crash including the $500 reporting threshold, the Good Samaritan law, moving vehicles off the road and deer.