Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence rule under O.C.G.A. 51-12-33, which allows an injured person to recover damages only if their share of fault is less than fifty percent. This rule shapes both whether recovery is possible and how much it amounts to.
The fifty percent bar is the threshold. Under the statute, a person who is fifty percent or more at fault for an accident is barred from recovering damages at all. Where a person’s share of fault falls below that line, recovery remains available, so the precise allocation of fault can be decisive.
Recovery is reduced by the share of fault. For a person below the threshold, any award is reduced in proportion to their own percentage of fault. A person found ten percent at fault, for instance, would see an award reduced by that amount, so the allocation directly affects the sum recovered.
Fault allocation is often contested. Because the outcome turns on percentages, how fault is apportioned among those involved is frequently disputed, drawing on evidence such as the circumstances of the collision and the conduct of each driver. A few percentage points can move a claim from reduced recovery to none at all.
The effect of modified comparative negligence generally lies in the fifty percent bar, the reduction of any award by the share of fault, and the contested nature of fault allocation. A person’s position relative to the threshold, the reduction applied to any award, and the apportionment of fault are what determine the outcome under this rule.