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Drivers traveling far above the speed limit on Georgia roads would be fined extra money and called “super-speeders,” under a bill that passed the Senate Wednesday.

The bill goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature. He is expected to sign it.

Perdue has supported the legislation previously and asked for it to be introduced again this year.

Motorists who speed at 85 miles per hour or more on a highway, and 75 miles or more on a two-lane road, would have to pay $200 to the state, above and beyond any local speeding ticket, according to the legislation.

“We want to try to change the driving habits in Georgia,” said Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen), the governor’s floor leader in the Senate.

“Georgia is known as a state you can make up lost time in when traveling,” Heath said.

The money collected is supposed to go towards the creation of a trauma care network in Georgia, according to the bill. In his state of the state address earlier this year, Perdue said the legislation would generate about $23 million for trauma care per year.

Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) introduced an amendment to require that the money go to trauma care, but his amendment was voted down.

“I feel very, very strongly that these funds should be earmarked, should be set aside, for trauma care,” Jones said.

Those opposed to the amendment said the Legislature cannot earmark the funds in this case, and such an amendment would make the bill unconstitutional. The bill can only place the money in the state’s general fund, they said. It would be up to the Legislature each year to spend that pot of money on trauma care.

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