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Most of the coasting laws were written in the 20's. Back then the brakes on a car were marginal at best. A lot of your stopping power was done by gearing done. The brakes did little more than hold the car stopped. The pad material was not the same as we have now, an could quickly wear out or over heat the drum brakes. Some cars only had brakes on the rear wheels.
Also the manual gearboxes were unsychronized. Once out of gear, it could be tricky or almost impossible to get back in gear at high speed running down a mountain.
The laws made good sence at the time they were written.
Georgia also has a law against coasting in neutral. I think it's a bad idea if you are coming down a steep mountain road even in a late model car. BTW I coast all the time down smaller hills.
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