The Dillard City Council voted on Monday to request that the Georgia Department of Transportation reduce the posted speed limit on the Georgia 441 corridor through the city from 45 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour.

The vote was four to zero. Councilmember Patton was absent. The stated rationale, per the draft minutes, was public safety: specifically, the council's finding that the 45 mph corridor creates hazardous conditions for pedestrians crossing between the city's commercial district and the residential blocks on the highway's west side.

The vote was taken nine days after a TikTok video posted on February 28 by a user identifying themselves as @OhioBuckeyeRoadTrips, based in Westerville, Ohio, accumulated 2.1 million views and an estimated 14,000 comments. In the video, which is approximately 90 seconds long and depicts a driving pass through Dillard on Georgia 441, the user characterizes Dillard as "100% a speed trap" and advises viewers to "set your cruise control to 37 as soon as you hit the city limits."

The Dillard City Council had not previously, in the period covered by available city records, considered a speed limit revision on the Georgia 441 corridor.

The TikTok

The @OhioBuckeyeRoadTrips account, which the Bavarian Brainrot newsroom reviewed as of Tuesday, has 4,300 followers and has posted 22 videos, all of which document driving tours through small towns in the southeastern United States. The Dillard video is by far the account's most-viewed. Its next-most-viewed video, a similar driving pass through Hartwell, Georgia, has approximately 18,000 views.

The Dillard video's comment section, which the Bavarian Brainrot newsroom reviewed in part, contains a substantial number of comments from viewers identifying themselves as having been stopped by police in Dillard on Georgia 441. A smaller number of comments dispute the characterization and note that the 45 mph posted limit is consistent with GDOT standards for the corridor's traffic and land-use classification. Several comments are in German, the substance of which the Bavarian Brainrot newsroom did not fully evaluate.

The video was shared to several Facebook groups focused on Georgia travel and to at least two forums used by long-haul drivers passing through the North Georgia mountains on the 441 corridor.

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom is not in a position to independently verify any of the claims made in the video's comment section.

What The Council Said Monday

The Dillard City Council's March 9 regular meeting had seven items on its agenda. The speed-limit request was item four. Per the draft minutes, the item was introduced by Council Mayor Pro Tem Harkins, who moved that the council authorize the city to submit a formal speed-limit revision request to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. No council member requested discussion before the vote was called. The vote was four to zero.

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom asked each of the four council members who voted whether the TikTok had influenced the timing of the motion. Three did not return calls. The fourth, Mayor Pro Tem Harkins, responded by text message: "This has been a safety concern for a long time."

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom asked Mayor Pro Tem Harkins when the concern was first formally raised with the city, in documented form, prior to Monday's vote.

He did not respond to that question.

What The Finance Office Said

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom submitted a public-records request to the City of Dillard Finance Office on Tuesday, asking for any revenue projections, estimates, or analyses prepared in connection with the speed-limit change.

The Finance Office responded in a written statement on Wednesday. The full text of the statement reads: "The City of Dillard Finance Office has not prepared revenue projections in connection with the proposed speed limit revision on Georgia 441. Revenue projections related to traffic-enforcement activity are not available at this time."

The statement does not address whether revenue projections will be prepared before the request is formally submitted to GDOT.

What GDOT's Process Requires

A speed-limit revision on a state route through an incorporated municipality in Georgia requires a formal request from the municipality to the Georgia Department of Transportation, followed by an engineering and traffic study conducted by GDOT's Traffic Operations division. The study typically takes between four and eight months. GDOT may approve the revision, deny it, or propose an alternative limit. GDOT's approval is required; a municipality cannot unilaterally change the posted speed on a state route.

Per GDOT's posted guidelines, the engineering study for a request of this type examines, among other factors, the 85th-percentile operating speed of current traffic, crash history, roadway geometry, sight-distance conditions, and pedestrian-crossing activity.

The City of Dillard will formally submit the revision request to GDOT's Gainesville District office, which covers Rabun County, following the city's legal review of the draft request letter.

If GDOT approves the request and the limit is reduced to 35 mph, the practical effect on motorists is a 10 mph reduction on a 0.7-mile corridor that takes approximately 56 seconds to traverse at 45 mph and approximately 72 seconds to traverse at 35 mph — a difference of 16 seconds.

The @OhioBuckeyeRoadTrips account has not posted a follow-up video about Dillard.

A Note On Prior Coverage

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom has not previously reported on traffic enforcement activity in Dillard and is not, on the basis of currently available information, in a position to characterize the historical frequency or pattern of speed-enforcement stops on the Georgia 441 corridor through the city. The TikTok video's characterization of Dillard as a speed trap reflects one driver's experience and the crowd-sourced commentary of approximately 14,000 commenters. It is not, and should not be read as, a factual finding by this newsroom.

The Dillard Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

— Connor McAllister