WHAT IS A SUPER SPEEDER?

·         Under the provisions of this new law any driver convicted of speeding whose speed exceeded the thresholds established in O.C.G.A. 40-6-189 will be classified by the state of Georgia as a “Super Speeder”.

WHAT ARE THE SPEEDING THRESHOLDS FOR SUPER SPEEDER?

·         Super Speeder fees apply to motorists convicted of speeding seventy-five-or-more on two-lane roads or speeding 85-and-over on any roads  in Georgia.

WHEN DOES THE NEW STATE LAW GO INTO EFFECT?

·         Georgia’s new ‘Super Speeder’ Law took effect January 1st, 2010.

WHERE DOES THE NEW LAW APPLY?  IS IT ONLY FOR DRIVERS ON RURAL ROADS AND INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS?

·         The new ‘Super Speeder’ law applies statewide to all motorists in Georgia. Motorists convicted of speeding seventy-five-or-more on two-lane  roads or speeding 85-and-overon any roads in Georgia will be subject to Super Speeder fees.

UNDER THIS LAW, WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF TWO LANE ROAD?

·         In the new Super Speeder Law the term 'two-lane road or highway' means “a road or highway with two lanes for through-traffic movement, exclusive of any portion of the road or highway adjoining the traveled way for parking, speed change, turning, weaving, truck climbing, or other purposes supplementary to through-traffic movement."

HOW MUCH ARE STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEES?

·         The State of Georgia will now collect a $200.00 state fee each time a driver is convicted of a Super Speeder speeding offense.

IS THE STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEE AN ADDITIONAL PENALTY?

·         Yes. The new law says Super Speeder fees are to be collected by the state in addition to any other fines or penalties imposed by the local jurisdictions where speeding tickets are issued.  It is now the motorist’s responsibility to pay both local the fine imposed for the speeding convictions and the Super Speeder fee.

WHEN IS A DRIVER NOTIFIED OF A STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEE?

·         The Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) will notify Super Speeder offenders of the imposition of a fee imposed under this Code section within 30 days after DDS receives a qualifying ticket and notice of conviction.

HOW IS A DRIVER NOTIFIED OF A STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEE?

·         Written notice will be provided by the Department of Driver Services to the Super Speeder offender by first-class mail to the address shown on department records.  The notice will include information about paying the Super Speeder fee online, by mail, or in person at one of DDS’s customer service centers.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A DRIVER FAILS TO PAY A STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEE?

·         Failure to pay the $200.00 Super Speeder fee imposed by this Code section within 90 days after receipt of the DDS notice will result in the suspension of the driver's license or driving privileges of the offender.

·         The notice mailed by DDS to the driver is considered adequate notification of the imposed fee and of the offender's ability to avoid a driver's license suspension by paying the fee prior to the effective date of the suspension.

·         An additional $50.00 state fee will then be assessed when the driver applies for reinstatement of the driver's license or driving privileges.  That fee is in addition to any other fees and penalties.

IF I COMMIT MULTIPLE ‘SUPER SPEEDER’ VIOLATIONS WILL IT PUT EXTRA POINTS ON MY LICENSE?

·          There are no additional points associated with fees imposed under the ‘Super Speeder’ Law. However the points for your primary speeding violation remain the same.  Each case is different. The code section that addresses the assessment of points is O.C.G.A. §40-5-57. Check the DDS website, www.dds.ga.gov , for details.

IF I ENTER A ‘NOLO’ PLEA FOR MY SPEEDING TICKET WHAT HAPPENS TO MY SUPER SPEEDER PENALTY?

·         A nolo plea will allow the violator to avoid the points for the original speeding ticket, but not the Super Speeder fee.

HOW WILL A SUPER SPEEDER CONVICTION AFFECT MY DRIVER HISTORY?

·         The Department of Driver Services says there will be no reference of a Super Speeder conviction on an offender’s driving record unless the violator fails to pay the Super Speeder fee and receives a license suspension.

IF I AM AN OUT-OF-STATE DRIVER CAN I STILL BE CHARGED WITH A ‘SUPER SPEEDER’ VIOLATION AND FEE IN GEORGIA?

·          Yes, a non-resident driver can be charged with a ‘Super Speeder’ violation and fee because Georgia is a member of the Non-Resident Violator Compact. The Compact is a reciprocal agreement that allows participating jurisdictions to process non-resident violators receiving traffic citations and requires member states to suspend the driver’s licenses of their citizens who fail to appear in a court of another member state or otherwise fail to comply with outstanding moving traffic summons. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M AN OUT OF STATE DRIVER AND I DON’T PAY A GEORGIA SUPER SPEEDER FEE?

·         If a non-resident does not pay the Super Speeder fine, the DDS would impose a suspension of his/her non-resident driving privilege in Georgia.  The DDS is required to report all suspensions imposed upon non-residents to the customer's state of residence.  The home state would then decide what additional action to take there, if any.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FEES COLLECTED FROM SUPER SPEEDERS?

·         The law says all fees collected under provisions of Super Speeder will be deposited in the state general fund with the intent to fund Georgia’s trauma care hospital system, where approximately sixty-percent of all trauma-care-patients are victims of car-crashes. The Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services is responsible for separately accounting for all of the funds received under the provisions of this new Code section. Now for the first time, Super Speeders will help pay for the hospital beds where crash-victims are being treated.

HOW MUCH IS GEORGIA PREDICTED T0 COLLECT IN STATE SUPER SPEEDER FEES?

·         Based on previous years of speeding ticket data, Georgia highway safety officials project the state will collect $23-million dollars in Super Speeder fees from high-risk speeders during the first year this new law is enforced. However, some highway safety experts predict that figure will decrease the second year and continue to decline thereafter, as enforcement of the Super Speeder law creates the desired effect of reducing deadly and unsafe highway speeds all across Georgia.

DOES THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF HIGHWAY SAFETY (GOHS) PREDICT AN INCREASE IN SPEEDING TICKETS DUE TO SUPER SPEEDER LAW ENFORCEMENT?        

·       No. Super Speeder is a change in traffic law but it doesn’t change current speed enforcement.  So GOHS expects to see an increase in state fees for those convicted of Super Speeder violations, but not a sudden increase in the overall number of speeding tickets.  The super speeder law does not change how Georgia police, sheriff’s and state troopers are enforcing traffic law.  Officers will apply the same best practices they’ve always used to protect motorists against high-risk and high-speed drivers.

WHY ISN’T SUPER SPEEDER DATA (AND OTHER STATEWIDE TRAFFIC COURT RECORDS) MORE READILY AVAILABLE?  

·         To gather statewide traffic citation data the State of Georgia must currently track information from 159 separate county government systems.  Historically, the public records in those courts have been organized in a decentralized system where citations are first issued on paper by police officers and carried to their law enforcement agencies, then sent to the appropriate court, and finally delivered to the state Department of Driver Services.

In recent years, the technology to automate each of the many manual steps in this process has become available, but not to all law enforcement agencies and courts across the state at the same time. For example, some police or sheriff’s departments may issue electronic citations but still have to send paper copies to their court. 

However, that will change this year as Georgia’s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will implement a system to fully automate this process statewide. By integrating the existing system electronics, providing compatibility standards for new system components, and providing electronic interfaces between them, this new system will create a database to capture Georgia traffic citation data and dispositions and for the first time make driver history data available in a timely manner.

WHERE CAN I READ THE ENTIRE TEXT OF THE NEW STATE LAW?

·   Read about 40-6-189 on the GOHS website at www.superspeedergeorgia.org.  The full text of House Bill 160 is available from the General Assembly’s website, which is www.legis.state.ga.us.  Additional information about payment of the Super Speeder fee online is available from the DDS on the “Save Time With DDS Internet Services” page at www.dds.ga.gov. 

This information has been provided by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety/www.georgiahighwaysafety.org.