Georgia Personal Injury Laws: Deadlines to Sue, Fault Rules and Damage Caps

A lawsuit for injuries to the person must be filed within two years after the right of action accrues. Injuries to reputation have one year, and loss-of-consortium claims have four years.

A lawsuit to recover personal property, or for damages for its conversion or destruction, must be filed within four years after the right of action accrues.

A medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed within two years after the date the injury or death occurred, and never more than five years after the negligent or wrongful act (a statute of repose). A separate section (§ 9-3-73) sets special rules, which still apply.

The surviving spouse may sue for the "full value of the life" of the deceased; if there is no spouse, the deceased's children (minor or adult) may sue. The recovery is divided equally among the spouse and children, but the spouse receives at least one-third, and it is not subject to the deceased's debts. A parent's right to sue for the death of a child is governed by separate sections (§§ 19-7-1, 53-1-5). If no one is entitled to sue under those sections, the administrator or executor may sue for the benefit of the next of kin. The personal representative may also recover funeral, medical and other necessary expenses.

Modified comparative fault (50% bar). An injured person's damages are reduced by his or her percentage of fault, but a person who is 50% or more responsible for the injury recovers nothing. Fault is apportioned among all responsible persons, including non-parties in some cases, and each defendant generally pays only its own share.

Punitive damages may be awarded only in tort actions where clear and convincing evidence shows willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or an entire want of care raising a presumption of conscious indifference to consequences, and they must be specifically requested in the complaint. Most awards are capped at $250,000. There is no cap in product liability cases (75% of that award goes to the State, less costs) or where the defendant specifically intended to cause harm or was impaired by alcohol or drugs.

State: before suing the State under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, written notice must be given within 12 months after the loss was or should have been discovered, by certified mail or personal delivery to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services, with a copy to the agency involved; recovery is capped at $1 million per person per occurrence and $3 million total per occurrence. Cities: a written claim stating the time, place and extent of the injury, the negligence and a specific dollar amount must be presented to the city's governing authority within six months of the event. Counties: claims must be presented within 12 months after they accrue.

Modified "one bite" rule. An owner or keeper of a vicious or dangerous animal who, through careless management or by letting it go at liberty, causes injury to someone who did not provoke it may be liable. A dog's vicious tendency can be shown by proving that a local ordinance required it to be leashed or at heel and it was not at the time.

Vehicle owners must carry liability insurance of at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for injury or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage (25/50/25).

A driver in a crash causing injury, death, or apparent property damage of $500 or more must immediately notify police by the quickest means available: the local police department if inside a city, otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Georgia State Patrol office. A driver in a crash with no personal injury and no second party or second party's property involved has no duty to stop or immediately report it.

A driver in a crash causing injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle must stop at or return to the scene and stay until giving name, address and registration number, showing a license on request, and giving reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging transport for medical care. If an injured person is unconscious, appears dead, or cannot communicate, the driver must make every reasonable effort to get emergency medical services and police contacted. If no one appears seriously hurt, drivers on public roads must move drivable vehicles off the roadway to a safe spot. For an unattended vehicle, the driver must find the owner or leave a written note (a misdemeanor if not done). Knowingly leaving a crash that causes death or serious injury is a felony with 1 to 5 years in prison. Leaving a crash with other injury, or damage to an attended vehicle, is a misdemeanor with a $300 to $1,000 fine (not suspendable) and/or up to 12 months, with higher minimum fines for repeat convictions within 5 years.

Georgia sets the property owner's duty by the visitor's status. An owner or occupier who invites people onto the premises for a lawful purpose (an invitee, such as a customer) is liable for injuries caused by failing to exercise ordinary care in keeping the premises and approaches safe. A licensee (someone allowed on the property only for their own interest or convenience, with no business or contractual relationship) can recover only for willful or wanton injury. A lawful possessor of land owes a trespasser no duty except to refrain from causing willful or wanton injury.

Cities: before suing a city for injury to person or property, the injured person must present a written claim to the city's governing authority within six months of the event, stating the time, place and extent of the injury as nearly as practicable, the negligence that caused it, and the specific amount of money damages sought; it must be served on the mayor or the chair of the city council or commission by personal delivery, certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. The city must consider and act on the claim within 30 days, and the statute of limitations is suspended while the claim is pending without action. Counties: all claims against a county must be presented within 12 months after they accrue (persons under a disability get 12 months after it ends). These sections do not set a damage cap.

An owner who invites or allows people to use land for recreation without charge does not promise that the land is safe, does not give the visitor invitee or licensee status (so no duty of care is owed), and is not liable for injury caused by the visitor's own act or omission. The protection does not apply to a willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity, or where the owner charges a person to enter the land for recreation and the injury is connected to that paid recreation (lease payments from the State or a political subdivision do not count as a charge).

Georgia requires every motorcycle operator and rider to wear protective headgear meeting standards set by the commissioner of public safety, and riders of motorcycles without a windshield must also wear approved eye protection. The rule does not apply to people riding in an enclosed cab or motorized cart, or to a person operating a three-wheeled motorcycle used only for agricultural purposes. The statute does not say whether going without a helmet affects damages.

Lane splitting is illegal in Georgia: no person may operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles, and a motorcyclist may not pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being passed. Motorcycles are entitled to full use of a lane, may not ride more than two abreast in a single lane, and must keep headlights and taillights on at all times. Police officers performing official duties are exempt from the passing and between-lanes rules.

A driver must stop and remain stopped to let a pedestrian cross within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the driver's half of the roadway or is approaching and within one lane of that half (or of the half the driver is turning onto). A pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb or other safe place into the path of a vehicle too close to yield, and drivers may not pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. A pedestrian crossing anywhere other than a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield to all vehicles (unless already safely in the roadway), may cross only in a marked crosswalk between adjacent signalized intersections, and may not cross an intersection diagonally unless traffic-control devices allow it.

Traffic laws that apply to vehicles generally also apply to bicycles, except where the statute says otherwise; a cyclist may ride on a paved shoulder but is not required to. A driver approaching a bicycle must, if possible, move to a lane not next to the bicycle; if not, the driver must slow to a reasonable speed (at least 10 mph below the limit or 25 mph, whichever is greater) and pass with at least three feet between the vehicle and the bicycle at all times; a violation is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $250. Riders and passengers under 16 must wear a helmet on highways, bike paths, bike lanes and public sidewalks, but violating the helmet rule is not negligence per se or contributory negligence and cannot be considered evidence of negligence or liability.

A transportation network company (Uber/Lyft type) must maintain, or cause to be maintained, primary auto insurance that recognizes the driver as a TNC driver. While the driver is logged on and available for rides, the policy must provide $100,000 for bodily injury or death of all persons in one accident (with up to $50,000 for one person) and $50,000 for property damage. From acceptance of a ride until it ends, the policy must provide at least $1 million for death, personal injury and property damage per occurrence, plus uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with minimum limits of $300,000 per accident, $100,000 per person and $25,000 for property damage. The coverage may come from a commercial policy bought by the TNC or driver, or from the driver's personal policy endorsement combined with TNC excess coverage; if the driver's coverage lapses, the TNC must provide primary coverage from the first dollar.

Georgia requires motor carriers and commercial vehicle operators to comply with the federal motor carrier safety regulations as they stood on January 1, 2023, including 49 C.F.R. Part 391 (driver qualifications), Part 392 (driving rules, including seat belts) and Part 395 (hours of service), and allows the commissioner of public safety to adopt Parts 393 and 396 (equipment and maintenance) and to set exceptions. The minimum driver age is 18 for intrastate operations and 21 for interstate. A Georgia minimum insurance amount for intrastate trucks was not verified; interstate carriers must meet federal minimums (49 C.F.R. 387.9).

Workers' comp is generally the exclusive remedy against the employer for a work injury, but the worker keeps the right to sue a negligent third party, except a co-employee, a company that provides the comp benefits by agreement with the employer, or (with exceptions) a construction design professional retained on the project. A construction design professional is not protected for negligent design plans and specifications, on-site tortious activity that causes the injury, or intentional misconduct. A principal or intermediate contractor is liable for comp to an injured subcontractor's employee (claims go first against the immediate employer) when the injury happened on premises where the principal contractor undertook the work or that it controlled.