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In court decisions, the U. S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause to include any activity that “substantially affects” interstate commerce. (Discussion) The Georgia law seems to impact truckers that drive through Georgia without contoured mud flaps. In order to comply with the Georgia law, the truckers would have to stop and change mud flaps before entering Georgia. If they were going to Florida, they would have to stop again at the Georgia-Florida border to change to straight mud flaps.
This could substantially affect interstate commerce by slowing it down and costing businesses more to ship goods. An alternate argument is that Georgia has the right to enact that law under Georgians “police powers” which are state laws that protect the safety of its citizens. A report said that contoured flaps were safer. (Conclusion) Since the Commerce Clause gives the Federal Government broad power to regulate commerce this means that only Congress can regulate interstate commerce. Further, the U. S.
Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause to exult is that the Georgia law would be unconstitutional because it substantially affected interstate commerce. This means that only Congress can make regulations that substantially affect interstate commerce. (Alternative Conclusion) It is possible that since Georgians law was based on a safety report concerning contoured mud flaps, a court could find that Georgians law was valid under Georgians “police powers. ” Or, that Georgians law might be valid if applied only to trucks that operated solely within Georgians borders.