Negligence per se means a person’s violation of a safety statute or ordinance can establish breach of the duty of care without a jury deciding what a reasonable person would have done. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6 supports the route: when the law requires an act for another’s benefit, the injured party may recover for breach of that duty if harmed.
It doesn’t win the case. Negligence per se settles the breach, not liability. More questions remain:
- Was the injured person within the class the law meant to protect?
- Was the harm the kind the law was meant to prevent?
- Did the violation actually cause the injury?
Traffic laws are a source: following too closely under § 40-6-49, or a crosswalk violation under § 40-6-91. Building codes come up too. A guilty plea to a citation can be an admission, while a nolo plea can’t be used that way under § 17-7-95(c).
The other party’s fault doesn’t vanish. Under § 51-12-33, the jury still assigns percentages. A plaintiff can also be negligent per se, such as a pedestrian who crosses between signaled intersections in violation of § 40-6-92(c).
General information about Georgia law as of November 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.