Run the stop sign on a school bus and be prepared to pay $1,000 and spend 12 months in jail. That’s the punishment to be handed out under a new law in Georgia that went into effect July 1, 2024.
House Bill 409, commonly called Addy’s Law, resulted from the efforts of a Georgia mother after her 8-year-old daughter was hit and killed.
Adalynn Pierce was crossing the road to board her Henry County school bus when she was struck by a driver who ran the school bus’ stop sign. That was Thursday, February 1, 2024. She died the following Saturday.
Adalynn’s mother, Ashley, witnessed the whole thing.
Ashley Pierce took her pleas to the Georgia legislature and Addy’s Law was signed by Governor Brian Kemp April 23, 2024.
The law makes running a school bus stop sign “a high and aggravated misdemeanor.” Conviction is to result in a fine of not less than $1,000 or by confinement for not more than 12 months or both, according to the bill.