When a child is hurt in a car accident and the other side is assigning blame, two separate worries collide: whether the deadline to bring a claim has passed, and whether the accusation of fault will defeat the claim. Georgia law treats these as distinct issues. The time limit for a child’s injury claim is set by statute and is generally longer than the limit for an adult, while the question of blame is governed by the state’s comparative negligence rule rather than by who points the finger first.
The Standard Two-Year Deadline and the Minor’s Exception
Georgia sets the time limit for most personal injury lawsuits at two years. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 requires actions for injuries to the person to be brought within two years after the right of action accrues. For an adult in a car accident, that period generally begins on the date of the collision.
A different rule applies when the injured person is a child. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 tolls the limitation period for a person who is younger than eighteen when the cause of action accrues. The statute provides that an individual who is under eighteen at the time the claim arises is entitled to the same time after reaching eighteen to bring an action as is allowed for other persons. In practical terms, the two-year clock for the child’s own injury claim does not begin until the child turns eighteen, so the child generally has until the twentieth birthday to file suit for those injuries. A crash that happened years ago may still fall within the time allowed when the injured party was a minor at the time.
A Parent’s Claim Follows a Different Clock
The tolling that protects a child’s own claim does not necessarily extend every related claim. Under Georgia law, a parent may have a separate claim for the medical expenses incurred in treating an injured child and, in some circumstances, for the loss of the child’s services. That parental claim belongs to the parent, not the child, and it is generally subject to the standard two-year limitation period running from the date of the accident rather than from the child’s eighteenth birthday. As a result, the deadline for the parent’s expense claim and the deadline for the child’s injury claim can fall on very different dates arising from the same crash. The child’s claim for the injury itself is the one that benefits from the minor tolling provision.
Being Blamed Does Not End the Claim
When the other driver or an insurer blames the child or the family for the crash, that is an allegation, not a final determination. Fault in Georgia is decided on the evidence and, at trial, by the trier of fact. An early accusation does not bar a claim and does not change the filing deadline.
Georgia applies a modified comparative negligence rule under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. An injured party may recover as long as that party’s share of fault is less than fifty percent, with any recovery reduced by the assigned percentage of fault. Recovery is barred only when the injured party is found fifty percent or more responsible. Where a child is the injured party, courts also consider that the standard of care expected of a child is measured differently than that expected of an adult, taking into account the child’s age, capacity, and experience. The fact that blame has been asserted does not, by itself, establish that the child or family was at fault, and it does not foreclose recovery.
Other Provisions That Pause the Clock
Beyond the minor tolling rule, Georgia recognizes additional circumstances that can pause the limitation period. When an injured person is legally incompetent because of intellectual disability or mental illness, O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 may toll the period until that condition is removed. When a defendant leaves the state, O.C.G.A. § 9-3-94 can exclude the time the defendant is absent from Georgia after the cause of action accrues, under defined conditions.
The renewal statute, O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61, allows a case filed within the limitation period and then voluntarily dismissed to be refiled within six months, even after the original period has expired. When the dismissal occurs after the limitation period has run, this renewal right may be used only once and depends on the first action having been filed properly and on time.
Proving Fault When Blame Is Disputed
Because blame is contested through evidence, the way a crash is reconstructed becomes important. Vehicle damage, medical records, witness testimony, surveillance footage, traffic camera images, and electronic vehicle data can all bear on how the collision happened and on the percentage of fault attributable to each party. The absence of a traffic citation does not establish fault or innocence; a ticket can be relevant evidence, but its absence neither bars a claim nor changes the limitation period. Liability is assessed on the full record under the comparative negligence framework.
Crashes Involving Government Defendants
When a government vehicle or employee was involved, Georgia imposes notice deadlines that are shorter than the ordinary limitation period. The Georgia Tort Claims Act and the ante litem notice requirements for municipalities and counties require written notice within set periods, in some cases six months and in others twelve months, before suit. Importantly, courts have applied these notice deadlines strictly, and the minor tolling provision does not automatically extend every government notice requirement in the same way it extends the general limitation period. These deadlines apply regardless of who is being blamed, and missing them can bar a claim against a government entity.
Where the Timing Stands
When a child was injured in a car accident, the claim for the child’s own injuries is generally not too late even years afterward, because O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 tolls the two-year period under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 until the child turns eighteen. A parent’s separate claim for medical expenses generally runs on the standard two-year timeline from the date of the crash. Being blamed does not defeat the claim; fault is decided under the comparative negligence rule of O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, and a child’s conduct is judged by a standard suited to the child’s age. Claims involving government defendants carry their own shorter notice deadlines that apply regardless of the accusation.
Disclaimer
This article is provided strictly for general educational and informational purposes. It is intended to explain how Georgia law works as a matter of public legal education, and it does not constitute legal advice, a legal opinion, or a recommendation about any particular course of action. Reading this article, or contacting the website on which it appears, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and any law firm, attorney, or author.
The law changes over time. Statutes, regulations, court rules, and judicial decisions discussed here may have been amended, repealed, superseded, or reinterpreted after the date of publication, and citations to specific code sections or cases reflect the law only as it was understood when this article was written. The application of any legal principle also depends heavily on the specific facts and circumstances of an individual matter, and outcomes vary from case to case.
For these reasons, no one should rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney who can review the particular facts involved. The author and publisher make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or applicability of the information provided, and disclaim any liability for any action taken or not taken based on this content.