Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

This week, the State Supreme Court released an opinion having incredible impact on Georgia personal injury cases including car and truck accidents. Ruling that plaintiffs bringing personal injury lawsuits for car accidents and trucking accidents may have additional time to file their lawsuits based on whether the at-fault driver received a citation. The Court relied on the Official Code of Georgia § 9-3-99 which provides that in any tort action arising out of the commission of a crime the two year statute of limitation is tolled or "paused" from the date of the crime until the prosecution of the crime is final, so long as it does not exceed six years from the time of the injury. The Supreme Court found that traffic citations are crimes because they are misdemeanors.

How does this apply? In the case before the court, the plaintiff was a passenger in a car which was rear-ended in an accident near Fort Stewart on April 27, 2005. The at-fault driver was issued a citation for following too closely which was paid and disposed of about three weeks after the accident on May 19, 2005. Under the Court's new ruling, the time clock for the two year personal injury statute of limitations didn't begin to run until the ticket was taken care of either by payment of a fine or disposition in court meaning this plaintiff, had until May 19, 2007 to file her lawsuit.

This is not to say that it is wise to wait until the last minute to file a lawsuit - evidence is lost, memories grow weak, and you often lose the ability to thoroughly investigate your case because you are rushing to meet the statute of limitations. However, it is nice to know that for now, or at least until the Legislature changes the law to prevent tolling for traffic citations, people injured in accidents have a little more breathing room before filing their lawsuits.

Read more on this case Beneke v. Parker.

As Atlanta personal injury lawyers, one of the most frequent questions we get is "How long do I have to file a Georgia claim for a trucking accident injury, wrongful death, slip and fall, etc.?" Generally under Georgia law, you have two years from the date of the injury to make a claim. But don't wait until the last minute; once you are within six months of the statute running, your attorney will be pressed for time to investigate your claim, file the lawsuit and serve the proper parties before your claim is extinguished.

Additionally, if the claim is against a governmental agency you may need to serve notice of the claim within six months of the injury or lose the claim forever. Other nuances in the law also make a difference as to the actual date of the running of the statute. For example, claims of minors in certain cases will remain open for two years beyond their 18th birthday. An example of another twist is where your spouse is seriously injured in a car accident and has a claim for his injuries. Approximately six months later he dies, then you, as his spouse, have your own claim for wrongful death which runs two years from the date of the spouse's death.

There are other instances when the statute of limitations may be tolled which means it is paused. For example, if you are injured by a drunk driver in a motor vehicle accident and the driver is charged with a crime such as DUI, the statute is tolled during the prosecution of the crime but not for more than six years.

The law in this area can be quite complicated, so if you think you have a claim it is better to contact an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your injuries. Let the attorney guide you and protect your rights to a full recovery.