Police Crack Down on Illegal Driving on GA 400 Shoulder
The “free ride” is over in the emergency lanes on a stretch of Georgia 400. The Sandy Springs police are ticketing drivers caught using the highway’s shoulder outside the time it’s legally allowed.
Last month, state transportation officials opened the southbound shoulder on Georgia 400 between Holcomb Bridge Rd. and the North Springs MARTA station. But only during the morning rush hour, says Sandy Springs police spokesperson Forrest Bohannon.
“The problems we’re seeing is that people are in that lane outside of the 6:30-9:30 window and it’s starting to cause problems with emergency responses,” she says.
At first, police allowed a grace period where they issued warnings for illegally driving in the lane. But now violators will be cited for a misdemeanor. Bohannon says it’s a safety issue.
“For instance, on [June] 1, we had an incident with a vehicle that was overturned blocking two lanes,” Bohannon says, “And all of our emergency vehicles had a very hard time getting to that incident because people were in that emergency lane.”
Misdemeanors carry a maximum fine of $1000 or up to 12 months in jail.
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