2021 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 6 - Uniform Rules of the Road
Article 3 - Driving on Right Side of Roadway, Overtaking and Passing, Following Too Closely
§ 40-6-50. Driving on Divided Highway, Controlled-Access Roadways, and Emergency Lanes

1. As used in this Code section, the term "gore" means the area of convergence between two lanes of traffic.
2. Every vehicle driven on a divided highway shall be driven only upon the right-hand roadway unless directed or permitted to use another roadway by official traffic-control devices or police officers. No vehicle shall be driven over, across, or within any dividing space, barrier, gore, paved shoulder, or section separating the roadways of a divided highway; except that a vehicle may be driven through an opening in such physical barrier or dividing space or at an established crossover or intersection unless specifically prohibited by an official sign, signal, or control device. No person shall drive a vehicle onto or from any controlled-access roadway except at such entrances and exits as are established by public authority. Except as provided for in subsection (c) of this Code section, no vehicle shall be driven in an emergency lane except in the event of an actual emergency.
3. For purposes of this subsection, "transit bus" means a bus used for the transportation of passengers within a system which is operated by or under contract to the state, a public agency or authority, or a county or municipality of this state. If the commissioner of transportation permits the use of emergency lanes of a controlled-access roadway by transit buses in the metropolitan Atlanta nonattainment area, the commissioner shall designate on which controlled-access roadways the use of emergency lanes by transit buses may be allowed and upon such designation the commissioner shall only permit the use on that emergency lane of a transit bus with a seating capacity of 33 passengers or more. Transit buses authorized to use the emergency lanes under this subsection may be operated on the emergency lane only when main lane traffic speeds are less than 35 miles per hour. Drivers of transit buses being operated on the emergency lanes may not exceed the speed of the main lane traffic by more than 15 miles per hour and may never exceed 35 miles per hour. Drivers of transit buses being operated on the emergency lanes must yield to merging, entering, and exiting traffic and must yield to other vehicles on the emergency lanes. Transit buses operating on the emergency lanes must be registered with the Department of Transportation.
4. Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit the use of a FlexAuto lane in the manner permitted under Code Section 32-9-4.1.

(Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 556, § 64; Ga. L. 1963, p. 254, § 4; Code 1933, §§ 68A-311, 68A-312, enacted by Ga. L. 1974, p. 633, § 1; Code 1981, §§40-6-50,40-6-51; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 5; Ga. L. 2003, p. 329, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 684, § 3/HB 273.)

- Construction and regulation of limited-access roads generally, § 32-6-110 et seq.

- Ga. L. 2005, p. 684, § 1/HB 273, not codified by the General Assembly, provides; "The General Assembly finds and determines and recommends as follows:

"(1) The Georgia Department of Transportation has a job of overwhelming proportions and addresses the ever-increasing transportation needs of the state through the hard work and dedication of outstanding leaders and staff;

"(2) There is a need in this state to reduce emissions and improve air quality by increasing traffic flow and reducing traffic congestion and decreasing drive times;

"(3) The Department of Transportation is urged to use creative and innovative methods to deal with gridlock and traffic congestion in Georgia and especially in the metropolitan areas;

"(4) Upon passage of this enabling legislation, the department is urged to implement FlexAuto lanes where applicable and to commence the implementation of such lanes in as timely a manner as is practicable;

"(5) The Department of Transportation is requested specifically to identify 20 major areas with a history of traffic congestion in and around our state that will derive the most benefit from the use of FlexAuto lanes and, after identifying these areas, to create and rapidly implement a plan for use of such lanes in such areas;

"(6) Studies and construction models used successfully in other areas within this country and others should be used as models where traffic flow was improved and emissions reduced by using creative and innovative methods to deal with gridlock and traffic congestion; and

"(7) The model used in Virginia is being studied by Israel, France, Japan, Germany, and England."

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Emergency lanes.

- Because "emergency lane" has a meaning commonly understood by drivers following the rules of the road in Georgia, the term "emergency lane" as used in statutes is sufficiently definite to meet constitutional standards. Payne v. State, 275 Ga. 181, 563 S.E.2d 844 (2002).

Because a truck driver witnessed an accident on a highway in which two vehicles veered off the road into a ravine presented an emergency, the truck driver's act of stopping in an emergency lane to run into the ravine to provide assistance was in compliance with O.C.G.A. § 40-6-50(b), and not in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-203. Reid v. Midwest Transp., 270 Ga. App. 557, 607 S.E.2d 170 (2004).

- Trial court erred by granting summary judgment to the defendants in a wrongful death action upon concluding that the plaintiffs' decedent was 50 percent or more responsible for the decedent's own death because there was an issue of fact as to whether the decedent would have died but for the presence of the tractor-trailer illegally parked in the emergency lane. Reed v. Carolina Cas. Ins. Co., 327 Ga. App. 130, 755 S.E.2d 356 (2014).

Cited in Merritt v. State, 288 Ga. App. 89, 653 S.E.2d 368 (2007).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, § 247.

- 60A C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, §§ 652, 654.

- Automobile accidents on street or highway divided by parkway or other neutral strip, 165 A.L.R. 1418.

Automobiles: accidents arising from merger of traffic on limited-access highway with that from service road or ramp, 40 A.L.R.3d 1429.