Georgia law, codified at O.C.G.A. § 40-6-3, provides for the applicability of the rules of the road on private property only Driving under the Influence, Hit and Run, Striking an Unattended Vehicle and Striking a Fixed Object upon a Highway can be violated on private property.   We have had Clayton County DUI cases were our client was driving at Southlake Mall without a seat belt.   The loop road around the mall is a private road.  It is not a through way as all access roads dead end into it.  The way you can tell if a roadway is public is if the road sides conform to normal road signs. Public road signs are govern by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  If the signs are shorter than normal or unusually decorative, i.e., carved wood, then its a private road.  Our client's DUI was dismissed because its is not a crime not to wear a seatbelt on private property and it is only a crime on public roadway. The stop was illegal.  No issue is too small to win a Georgia DUI.

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