| While it is never advisable to procrastinate in filing suit in an auto accident case, for those who may have thought they lost the right to file suit for injuries caused by another in an car accident now have the potential to still file suit.
O.C.G.A. 9-3-99 says that the statute of limitations for any tort action a victim of a crime brings against the perpetrator is tolled from the date of the alleged crime until the prosecution of the crime becomes final or is dismissed, as long as the ultimate time of delay does not exceed six years from the date of the alleged crime.
The question that was unresolved by the courts until recently was whether this statute applied to violations of the Uniform Rule of the Road and thus would extend the time a plaintiff in a civil auto accident lawsuit could file suit after the usual two year statute of limitation period if the defendant had not resolved his traffic violation(s).
The Georgia Supreme Court yes. It held:
"The plain language of O.C.G.A 9-3-99 would encompass a violation of
a Uniform Rule of the Road. To impose a more stringent definition of 'crime'
within the context of the statute would render superfluous its language that the statute of limitations is tolled from the date of the alleged crime or the act giving rise to such action in tort until the prosecution or other termination of such crime or act."
Thus, now it is clear that the two year statute of limitation on car accident lawsuits will not begin to run until the traffic charge(s) arising out of the auto accident is disposed of either through payment of the ticket, trial or dismissal of the charges. Often times, traffic charges can languish in traffic court for years before they are finally dealt with. However, the majority of time, defendants merely pay the ticket within 30 days of the accident so be careful with this new ruling.
Again, I never advise my personal injury clients involved in a car accident to wait to file suit because doing so has potential ramifications. Evidence becomes harder to collect. Witnesses become harder to find years removed from the accident and their memories of the details of the accident fade.
When it is clear that the injury is catastrophic, I am inclined to file suit more promptly and move aggressively to complete necessary investigations and discovery. However, when people have neglected to pursue their injury claims past the typical two year deadline to do so from the date of the accident, this ruling can allow us to still pursue their legal rights that otherwise would have been lost.
|