Georgia’s motor-vehicle liability rules are not the same as those in Florida, Alabama, or even South Carolina next door. Filing deadlines, fault rules, and insurance minimums are set by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and recent court decisions, so an article written for “any state” can steer you wrong. The 10 questions below come straight from real clients, hotline calls, and community-outreach events across Atlanta, Macon, Savannah, and the North Georgia mountains. The answers cite the controlling Georgia statutes and 2024-2025 case law—but skip the legal jargon where possible—so you can make confident, informed moves.
(Nothing here is individual legal advice. For a specific case, talk to a licensed Georgia car accident attorney.)
1. What should I do at the scene to protect my claim?
- Call 911 and wait for police
Georgia law requires a crash report whenever anyone is injured or total property damage appears to exceed $500 (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273). Ask for the incident number before the officer leaves; you’ll need it to order the Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report. - Exchange and document
Take photos of licenses, insurance cards, vehicle tags, positions of vehicles, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries. Video walk-arounds capture details photos miss. - Identify witnesses
Georgia officers note witnesses when possible, but follow‐up can lag. Record names, numbers, and why they matter (“saw light turn red”). Unbiased third-party testimony often decides fault when insurers deadlock. - Seek medical care the same day
Adrenaline masks pain. A same-day ER or urgent-care visit links your injuries to the crash in the medical record—vital when the adjuster later argues a “gap in treatment.” - Report to your insurer within 24 hours
Every Georgia auto policy contains a “notice” clause. Late notice can void coverage completely, even if you weren’t at fault.
2. How long do I have to file a claim or lawsuit in Georgia?
| Type of claim | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury or wrongful death | 2 years from the collision date | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 |
| Vehicle/property damage | 4 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31 |
| Claims vs. a Georgia city | Ante litem notice within 6 months | O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 |
| Claims vs. the State or a county | Ante litem notice within 12 months | O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26 |
- For minors or legally incompetent adults, the clock is paused (“tolled”) until the disability ends, then runs for the usual period (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90).
- Sending a letter to an insurer does not pause the statute; only a court-filed suit or a written tolling agreement does.
Missing these cut-offs almost always destroys the case, so calendar them immediately.
3. Georgia is an “at-fault” state—how does that work day-to-day?
Georgia uses modified comparative negligence with a 50 percent bar (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). You can recover damages so long as you are 49% or less at fault; your check is then reduced by your own percentage.
Example: A jury values your losses at $100,000. If you were 20 % at fault for speeding, you take home $80,000. At 50 % fault you collect nothing. Because fault is pivotal, never admit liability at the scene, and be cautious giving recorded statements without counsel.
4. What are the minimum insurance limits in Georgia—and are they enough?
Since 2023, Georgia has required 25/50/25 minimum liability coverage:
- $25,000 per person for bodily injury
- $50,000 per crash if multiple people are hurt
- $25,000 for property damage (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11)
Those figures rarely cover an ER visit plus follow-up therapy, let alone lost wages. That’s why:
- Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is automatically included at equal limits unless you reject or reduce it in writing. Keep your UM in place; 12 % of Georgia drivers rode uninsured in 2024, and many more carry bare-bones policies.
- Medical Payments (MedPay) is optional add-on coverage that pays immediate medical bills regardless of fault and never raises premiums—handy while liability is sorted out.
5. How are medical bills paid while the case is pending?
- Health insurance first – Georgia follows the “collateral source rule,” so using Blue Cross, Medicaid, or Medicare cannot be held against you at trial.
- MedPay next – Your auto policy’s MedPay (if you bought it) reimburses co-pays or pays providers directly, then asserts a limited right of reimbursement from any settlement.
- Provider liens – Georgia hospitals can file liens under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470, but they must perfect the lien within 75 days of discharge; otherwise it is void. Negotiate liens before settling.
6. What damages can I recover in a Georgia car-accident case?
- Economic losses: all past and future medical costs, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, property damage (including diminished value recognized in State Farm v. Mabry, 1991), rental fees, and necessary home or vehicle modifications.
- Non-economic losses: pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium for a spouse. Georgia places no cap on pain-and-suffering damages after the Supreme Court struck down caps in Nestlehutt (2010).
- Punitive damages: capped at $250,000 except where the defendant acted with specific intent or was impaired by alcohol/drugs (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1).
- Wrongful death: “full value of the life” including economic and intangible elements (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2).
7. What if the at-fault driver is uninsured or flees the scene?
- Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage steps into the driver’s shoes. Georgia recognizes stacking of UM policies across household vehicles, potentially multiplying coverage.
- Hit-and-run claims are treated as uninsured events, but you must report the crash to police within a reasonable time (typically 72 hours) and prove contact or a credible near-miss with an independent witness (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11).
- A driver convicted of leaving the scene faces criminal penalties (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-270) and can be held liable for punitive damages regardless of the $250k cap.
8. How does comparative fault apply to common real-world scenarios?
| Scenario | Typical insurer argument | Georgia outcome (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| Rear-end at red light | Lead driver “stopped suddenly” | Presumption that rear driver liable; rebuttable only with strong evidence |
| Left-turn across traffic | Left-turning driver nearly always majority at fault | Unless through-driver ran a red or was egregiously speeding |
| Multi-car pile-up on I-75 | Each tailing driver failed to control speed | Fault divided by crash-reconstruction evidence; early spoliation letters preserve event-data-recorder (“black box”) data |
| Pedestrian in crosswalk | Driver claims the light was green | Comparative fault may reduce but rarely eliminates pedestrian recovery if in marked crosswalk |
Remember, insurers apportion fault aggressively to save money. Photographs, 911 audio, public-records requests for traffic-camera footage, and early expert analysis can tip percentages in your favor.
9. Do rideshare, delivery, or commercial-vehicle crashes follow different rules?
Yes. Georgia’s Transportation Network Company statute mandates $1 million in liability and UM coverage once a rideshare driver accepts a trip or has a paying passenger (O.C.G.A. § 40-1-194). During “app on, no passenger” periods the coverage drops to $50k/$100k/$25k. For Amazon Flex, DoorDash, or other gig-delivery platforms, coverage varies but generally mirrors the rideshare structure.
Commercial carriers (box trucks, semi-trailers, charter buses):
- Must carry $100k per person / $300k per crash minimum, or $750k combined single limit for interstate carriers under federal regs (49 C.F.R. Part 387).
- Claims can name both the driver and the company under Georgia’s respondeat superior doctrine; in serious cases you may plead direct-action negligence against the employer for inadequate hiring, training, or supervision.
Because corporate defendants move quickly to shield evidence, send litigation-hold letters within days and, if possible, download electronic-logging-device (ELD) data before it is overwritten at 30 days.
10. How long will my Georgia car-accident claim take, and what delays it?
| Phase | Average time | Bottlenecks you can control |
|---|---|---|
| Medical treatment & MMI (maximum-medical-improvement) | 3–12 months | Attend appointments; follow doctor’s plan; keep mileage & out-of-pocket logs |
| Pre-suit negotiation | 30–90 days after demand letter | Provide complete medical records and bills in a single, organized PDF; answer adjuster questions promptly |
| Litigation (if filed) | 12–24 months to trial in state court; 6–9 months more if appealed | Respond to discovery fully; appear at depositions; consider mediation seriously |
| Post-verdict collections | 30 days to satisfy judgment; longer if insurer appeals | Verify insurance limits early; record judgment liens |
Cases with clear liability and modest injuries often settle within a year. Severe-injury or disputed-fault cases take longer, especially in metro-Atlanta dockets still clearing the COVID-19 backlog.
Practical Takeaways (Cheat-Sheet)
- Call police, photograph everything, and see a doctor the same day.
- Two-year bodily-injury clock beats nearly every other deadline—diary it!
- Georgia’s 50 % bar means every percent of fault matters—fight for the facts.
- Keep UM coverage and consider at least $100k MedPay if you can afford it.
- Save every receipt and mileage log; small numbers add up under Georgia law.
- Don’t sign the insurer’s medical-release form; supply records yourself.
- Send a spoliation letter for black-box data in any crash over 15 mph.
- If a city or state vehicle is involved, ante litem notices kick in fast—get counsel.
- Document mental-health impacts; Georgia allows emotional-distress damages.
- The lawyer you choose should know local courts; Fulton-vs-Gwinnett juries value cases differently.
Final Word
Handling a Georgia car-accident claim is part legal chess match, part medical project-management, and part paperwork marathon. Starting strong—at the roadside—gives you negotiating leverage months later when an adjuster or defense lawyer finally reads your file. Use this guide as your roadmap, flag the deadlines that apply to your crash, and don’t hesitate to get personalized advice when the stakes rise. Your health, your finances, and Georgia law all deserve the full-court press.
(All statutes current through the 2024 Georgia General Assembly Regular Session; judicial interpretations current through April 1, 2025.)