Challenge Speeding Ticket in Georgia: Super Speeder Law

You can challenge speeding ticket charges in Georgia by pleading not guilty at arraignment, asking for discovery of the speed-detection evidence, and then negotiating or trying the case. A Georgia speeding conviction is a misdemeanor criminal conviction, not a civil infraction. That difference changes what is at stake for your record.

Other states later copied Georgia's super speeder surcharge to collect more revenue from drivers who ignore posted speed limit signs. The Georgia surcharge works like a tax, and it lands on top of the fine a driver already pays on certain high-speed tickets.

Is a Speeding Ticket a Misdemeanor?

Yes, all motor vehicle crimes in Georgia are misdemeanors. Therefore, fighting a Georgia speeding ticket is important to many Georgia residents, as well as non-residents passing through our state. Georgia speeding ticket prices are among the nation's highest.

GA Super Speeder Statute – Super Speeder GA

In Georgia, two clear choices exist for a super speeder seeking to avoid points and Georgia speeding ticket cost. The super speeder Georgia additional assessment is a separate GA speeding fines. To combat this, you need to: (1) Contact and hire a traffic lawyer to fight or (2) Pay the super speeder assessment to Georgia DDS and the original fines to the jurisdiction where the speeding offense occurred. If you "blow it off" and skip court, this will result in the suspension of your driver's license in Georgia, and you risk arrest on a bench warrant. The statute sets the clock. Georgia DDS must notify the offender within 30 days after it receives the qualifying ticket and the notice of conviction. The driver then has 90 days from receipt of that notice to pay the $200 fee. Miss the 90 days and DDS suspends the license or driving privilege, and a $50 fee is added, payable when you apply for reinstatement. Once suspended, the delinquent motorist has MORE problems, if caught driving while suspended. First, you will most likely be taken to jail and post bond on the driving under suspension law. Once you finally settle the unpaid Georgia super speeder issues, you will also have to pay a reinstatement fee, to clear a GA super speeder suspension of the offender at Georgia DDS (our state's DMV, known officially as the Georgia Department of Driver Services.) Non-resident motorists lose their driving privileges in GA and will be arrested if they do not pay the super speeder assessment when later stopped in GA by police. That new misdemeanor ticket for driving under a suspension may cause them to be suspended in their home state. Plus, they must now fight this new misdemeanor criminal matter in another Georgia court, since venue will be in whatever GA court the person was caught.

How to Challenge a Speeding Ticket in Georgia

Georgia's super speeder law came from a 2009 revenue bill and took effect on January 1, 2010. The Governor's Office of Highway Safety still publishes the initial news story announcing it. The more useful question is how you challenge speeding ticket charges once the citation is in your hand.

Plead not guilty instead of paying online. Paying a Georgia citation online is a guilty plea. It adds points to your license and can trigger the super speeder assessment. A not guilty plea at arraignment keeps every other option open.

File for discovery. Ask for the radar or LIDAR unit's calibration and certification records. Also request the officer's speed-detection permit from the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. The agency's own speed detection device permit matters too.

Attack the measurement method. Officers clock speed by pacing, radar, LIDAR, or aircraft, and each method has weak points. Georgia bars evidence from a speed detection device used within 300 feet of a speed limit reduction inside a city, or within 600 feet of one outside a city. Separate rules require warning signage at the county or city line, with no device used within 500 feet of that sign. A county, city, or campus officer also cannot make a speeding case on a speed detection device unless the recorded speed is more than 10 mph over the posted limit, outside marked school zones, historic districts, and residential zones. A missing sign or a bad setup location may support a motion to exclude the reading.

Raise speedometer and calibration defenses. Oversized tires, a miscalibrated speedometer, or a device never tested that shift can matter when the reading is marginal. A few miles per hour often decides whether points or the $200 assessment attach.

Use pretrial motions and negotiation. Most cases resolve before trial through motions and talks with the solicitor. In many Georgia traffic courts, a lawyer handles those steps while the client stays at work. These arguments may reduce or dismiss a charge depending on the evidence, and no lawyer can promise a result.

What Speeding in Excess of Maximum Limits Means on Your Ticket

The charge written as speeding in excess of maximum limits ga is the standard wording on the Georgia Uniform Traffic Citation. It alleges a violation of the state's maximum speed limits statute.

That statute sets default limits: 30 mph in residential districts, 35 mph on unpaved county roads, and 65 to 70 mph on interstates and rural highways.

Look at the two boxes on the face of your citation, where the officer records the alleged speed and the posted limit. That recorded number, not the officer's later opinion, sets the fine tier and decides whether the super speeder assessment attaches. Fines climb sharply once the recorded speed passes 24 mph over the limit.

The charge also differs from two serious offenses drivers confuse it with. Reckless driving requires reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property, not just a number. Aggressive driving requires intent to harass, intimidate, or obstruct another driver. Both carry heavier penalties and a real risk of arrest. In our experience handling metro Atlanta speeding cases, the recorded speed on the citation is where a defense starts.

What Is a Super Speeder in GA?

Any driver who gets convicted of speeding at high speeds will be in violation of the super speeder ticket in Georgia. Specifically, traveling at 75 mph or more on any two-lane road in GA, or at 85 mph or higher on ANY roadway, such as I-85, I-75, I-20, GA Highway 400, or similarly limited access roads. Simply stated, the new law tacks on an additional state assessment of $200 for any traffic ticket conviction or nolo contendere plea where the speed reported to Georgia DDS (the GA DMV) on the traffic citation, on a 2-lane highway or road, was speeding at 75 mph or more. For multi-lane highways, the speed that triggers Georgia super speeder law is 85 miles per hour or more. The trap for the unwary lead-footed motorist is that he or she will either go to traffic court and resolve the speeding ticket, or possibly pay the ticket online or by mail, and waive his or her court appearance. But this court procedure merely settles the misdemeanor traffic ticket offense. That speeding ticket case disposition, however, is what authorizes Georgia to NOW add on the tax designed to make super speeders help pay for Georgia's government functions.

Can You Get Arrested for Speeding in Georgia?

Yes, if you are going very fast in Georgia, you can. Since reckless driving GA is categorized as a serious driving offense, if this is also charged, an arrest is possible. A high-speed case can also raise the question of whether reckless driving is charged as a misdemeanor or a felony in Georgia. Plus, committing multiple dangerous driving acts (e.g., following too closely, changing lanes without signaling) can possibly trigger an aggressive driving GA charge, under OCGA 40-6-397. The new speeding tax law does not, by itself, cause a license suspension, add speeding ticket points, or send you to jail. The super speeder law in Georgia is a straightforward "strong arm" law for collecting more tax money for violating the speed limit in Georgia. At risk, if the tax is not timely paid, is your right to drive, plus an additional fine (late fee) of $50, if you don't pay the GA super speeder tax on time. Indirectly, the failure to pay the tax can do more than cause license suspension, since a failure to pay triggers Georgia DDS to suspend your right to drive, and if caught driving while suspended, you go immediately to jail. This method of "veiled taxation" allows the Legislators to "not raise taxes" on all citizens, and to thereby curry favor with voters. The strategy has worked as revenue policy. The lawmakers who passed it keep getting re-elected.

How Long Is Court for a Speeding Ticket in Georgia?

Clients ask how long is court for a speeding ticket almost as often as they ask about the fine. The answer depends on the court and its calendar.

The date printed on your citation usually falls two to six weeks out. Arraignment in municipal and recorder's courts runs on a mass calendar. Dozens of cases get called in one session, so a driver may wait two to four hours for a matter that takes minutes at the bench.

A negotiated plea usually finishes in that single appearance. A bench trial takes longer, and a case transferred for a jury trial can run three to nine months depending on the county's docket.

As the attorney section below explains, in most Georgia traffic courts our lawyers appear under a power of attorney, so the client never sets foot in the courtroom.

Timelines vary by venue. Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton county courts carry heavy dockets, as do the municipal courts in Atlanta, Marietta, Sandy Springs, and Roswell. Treat every range here as typical rather than promised.

How Much Is a Super Speeder Ticket in Georgia?

The super speeder law still irritates every driver who pays fines and surcharges at traffic court, then opens a second bill from the State of Georgia weeks later. Here is the arithmetic behind that bill.

The state super speeder assessment is $200. It is separate from the local fine the convicting court sets, which commonly runs $150 to $500 or more before surcharges, and higher in the top speed tiers. Statutory surcharges then stack onto the local fine and can nearly double it in some courts.

You have 90 days from receipt of the Georgia DDS notice to pay the assessment. Miss that window and DDS suspends your driving privileges. Reinstatement then costs a $50 fee on top of everything else.

A representative high-speed citation can therefore run several hundred dollars in local fine and surcharges, plus the flat $200 state assessment. Every figure here is typical only and varies by court and by the recorded speed.

Paying Georgia DDS Online – Your Options for Payment of Fines

If the use of a credit card online is unappealing or too daunting, a person making a Georgia super speeder ticket payment can download a PDF credit card form, and fill that out to make payment of the super speeder GA fee. To make certain that your payment gets matched to your driving record, enclose a copy of your final criminal court disposition paperwork or your name, address, and birth date. For out of state drivers, include your state of licensure, and the state of issuance. Go to the DDS Georgia website: www.dds.ga.gov. Their mailing address is: Georgia Dept of Driver Services P.O. Box 80447 Conyers, GA 30013

Talk to an Atlanta Speeding Ticket Lawyer About Your Options

The court date printed on your citation is a deadline, not a suggestion. Paying the ticket online before that date is a guilty plea, with the points and super speeder assessment that follow.

A consultation gives you a plan instead of a payment. We review the citation and the recorded speed, explain the realistic reduction and dismissal options in that specific county, and tell you whether a power of attorney can keep you out of court. We also price out what the super speeder assessment adds.

Our traffic ticket lawyers, William C. Head, Larry Kohn, and Cory Yager, handle Georgia speeding and traffic cases and keep a statewide network of traffic lawyers for citations outside metro Atlanta. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and every case is different.

Call William C. Head, PC at 404-567-5515 for a free consultation. Have the citation in front of you when you call.

How Can I Get My Speeding Ticket Reduced in Georgia?

How can I get my speeding ticket reduced without a trial? Several paths exist, and all of them depend on the prosecutor, the judge, your driving history, the recorded speed, and the county.

Amend the recorded speed. The most common outcome is a negotiated amendment of the alleged speed down to 14 mph or less over the limit. Under Georgia's license points schedule, Georgia assesses zero points at that threshold, so a clean license stays clean.

Reduce to a non-moving violation. Some courts allow a plea to improper equipment or failure to obey a traffic control device. Those carry no points, but prosecutors and judges differ widely on whether they permit the swap.

Enter a nolo contendere plea. Georgia allows one nolo plea every five years for point purposes. It does not avoid the $200 super speeder assessment, because the super speeder statute reaches nolo dispositions too.

Petition Georgia DDS on points. A certified driver improvement course paired with a points-reduction petition can remove points from a Georgia license, and DDS allows that relief once every five years.

Out-of-state and CDL drivers face different math. Home-state reciprocity may add points Georgia did not assess, and federal rules bar masking a commercial driver's conviction. Every reduction here is discretionary, so treat none as automatic.

Can You Request a Jury Trial for a Speeding Ticket?

Speeding is a misdemeanor in Georgia, not a civil infraction, so the jury right applies. A driver charged in a municipal or recorder's court can refuse to waive that right and bind the case over to state or superior court.

The bind-over request is normally made at arraignment. Deadlines are short in most courts, and waiting can forfeit the right, so this decision cannot sit for weeks.

A jury trial for speeding ticket cases means a longer timeline and a more formal discovery posture. State court prosecutors carry heavier caseloads, and some are more open to amending a speed than a municipal solicitor. You may also face higher costs and a different sentencing judge.

A bench trial in the originating court is often faster, and for a marginal radar reading it may be enough. The choice is strategic and turns on the evidence, the county, and your record. Discuss it with a traffic lawyer before you demand a jury trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I challenge a speeding ticket in Georgia without going to court myself?

Usually yes. In most Georgia traffic courts your lawyer can appear under a power of attorney and handle arraignment, discovery, and negotiation. Some judges still require the driver to appear for a trial.

What does speeding in excess of maximum limits mean on a Georgia ticket?

It is the citation wording for a violation of the maximum speed limits statute. The officer writes the alleged speed and the posted limit, and those numbers set the fine tier and any super speeder assessment.

Does a nolo contendere plea avoid the Georgia super speeder fee?

No. Georgia's super speeder statute reaches nolo contendere dispositions as well as guilty pleas. A nolo plea may help with license points once every five years, but the $200 assessment still applies at qualifying speeds.

How long does traffic court take for a speeding ticket in Georgia?

Most citations set a court date two to six weeks out, and a negotiated plea often ends there. Expect a few hours on a crowded arraignment calendar, and months if the case goes to trial.

Can I demand a jury trial for a speeding ticket in Georgia?

Yes, because speeding is a misdemeanor. Refusing to waive the jury right binds the case over to state or superior court, usually on request at arraignment. The trade-off is a longer case.

This page is general information. Speak with a traffic lawyer about your citation before you decide how to plead.