What You Need to Know About Car Accidents in Georgia

How to tell if you can bring your car accident to court in Georgia

Many car accident victims don’t realize that they have the right to start a lawsuit in Georgia. You may worry that you don’t know who was at fault. You also may question how much your car was worth or how much you are entitled to receive for your injuries.

It’s important to remember that you only need to satisfy two criteria to have a personal injury cause of action in Georgia:

Though these are easy criteria to meet, accidents are confusing and overwhelming. Experienced personal injury attorneys will review your case and help you make sense of your situation. Don’t be discouraged if you are told you don’t have a claim. Sometimes, the settlement from the insurance company really is the best option.

Common injuries from car accidents

How serious a car accident appears often has little to do with the injuries involved. A car may be totaled yet the driver can walk away with only a broken bone. On the other hand, a fender bender may result in death if injuries aren’t treated properly or quickly enough. Whiplash and concussions may not have noticeable symptoms, for example, but can result in severe health consequences.

This is why it’s critical that you visit the emergency room or make an appointment with your primary care doctor immediately after a car accident.

Other common injuries include:

• Head/brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries/paralysis
• Broken bones
• Disfigurement and scarring

Medical bills are typically part of accident compensation as well as any time you may have needed to take off from work due to doctor appointments or simply not feeling well. In order to keep track of all your bills, use our expenses worksheet in order to help calculate all of your potential damages:

Car accidents with government vehicles

Government employees have a duty to drive in a safe and reasonable manner. Though common carriers like buses must use “extraordinary care” in order to avoid liability, the area is more gray when it comes to police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. As these are rescue vehicle, they’re allowed to speed and weave in and out of traffic when responding to an emergency, though safety is still important.

Whenever a car accident involves government property, such as a collision with public transportation or government service vehicles, such as garbage trucks or school buses, there are special regulations in place. This is true if the accident occurs on government property as well. In most cases, the legal principle of “sovereign immunity” will take effect.

Sovereign immunity means that a person will only win damages from the government in a very limited set of circumstances. More often than not, the government won’t be responsible for providing any compensation—especially when government employees were responding to an emergency. Only in situations of gross negligence or criminal behavior will a plaintiff be awarded financial compensation from the government.

If you were involved in an accident with a government vehicle in Georgia, we strongly recommend that you contact a personal injury attorney.

To receive compensation for any damages, your claim must be filed against the responsible party on time and in the right manner.

The timeframe for a claim against the government is shorter than other statute of limitations.

In Georgia, you must follow your personal injury claim according to these deadlines:

• With a city or county vehicle, the deadline is approximately 6 months after the accident.
• If the vehicle was a state vehicle, the deadline is approximately 1 year after the incident.
• If your accident involved a federal government vehicle, you must file an administrative claim with the responsible government department within 2 years of the accident. If your claim is denied, you have 6 months after the rejection to pursue legal action in court.

As time isn’t on your side with these claims, the sooner you can schedule a consultation with a qualified attorney, the better.

What you need to bring to a car accident claim consultation

Many people are nervous at their first meeting with a personal injury attorney. A lawsuit may seem intimidating, and if you’re recovering from an accident, you may not be feeling well. To make the first meeting easier for you, it’s best to gather all of the necessary materials in advance. Your car accident attorney may ask you to bring:

To help you keep track of all this information, we recommend downloading and printing the following free resources:

Not all of these items are necessary for a first meeting, but the more you have, the better the attorney will be able to evaluate your case.

When you’re ready to take legal action, read our guide for how to pick a personal injury attorney and browse our list of Georgia personal injury attorneys to find the legal expert for is the right fit for your case.