ATLANTA — The state House introduced a bill Monday allowing motorists to refuse to sign for traffic tickets, a situation that led to the death of a church deacon in Atlanta just last year.
The bill sponsors are both Democrats and Republicans, even former police officers, horrified by the fatal confrontation last year during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
Johnny Hollman had called Atlanta police following a minor traffic accident last fall. Bodycam video showed Hollman declining to sign a traffic ticket issued by police – then a confrontation building, with officer Kiran Kimbrough tasing Hollman as it escalated.
"We want our citizens to go home at the end of the night," said state Rep. Yasmine Neal (D-Jonesboro), herself a former Clayton County police detective.
Her bill, HB 1054, would create a legal framework for motorists who choose not to sign a traffic citation.
"The concept of the bill is to give officers another option. It’s an option some people don’t know about. We’re trying to codify a practice that some law enforcement, they do currently use – just to make it easier where everyone goes home," Neal explained.
She added that any motorist declining to sign a traffic ticket would have to make a court date and would get their driver’s licenses suspended if they didn’t. But she claims the bill would keep people out of jail and reduce roadside confrontations between motorists and police.
"We’re trying to save the cities money, counties money, and ensure that everybody goes home," she said.
After the incident involving Hollman, Atlanta Police enacted its own procedure to give motorists the option to decline to sign traffic citations. APD fired Kimbrough soon after the fatal incident.