Hurt in a Crash With a Company Vehicle? Talk to Our Team Before You Accept an Offer

If you were hurt in a car accident with a company vehicle in Georgia, more than one party may be responsible. The driver may be at fault. The employer or another business may share responsibility, depending on what happened. This page explains who may be liable, how Georgia’s fault and filing rules work, what insurance can be involved, and what injured people can do now.

What This Page Covers and Who It Helps

This guidance is for people hurt in a crash involving a vehicle owned or operated for an employer or business. That includes cars, vans, box trucks, and tractor-trailers. It is written for:

• Injured drivers and passengers
• Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a company vehicle
• Families after a fatal crash

The focus is serious harm with real medical treatment. That means fractures, hospital care, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, total-loss crashes, and wrongful death.

You may be reading this while you recover, or while you help a family member who is hurt. The goal is to make your next decisions clearer, one step at a time.

Who May Be Held Responsible When a Company Vehicle Causes a Crash

The driver, the employer, and sometimes other businesses may each be responsible for a crash. Each role raises different questions.

The driver

A driver can be liable for negligence. Examples include speeding, distracted driving, fatigue, and failing to yield.

The employer

Employers can be held responsible for an employee’s negligence on the job. Courts look closely at what the driver was doing at the time. Company work, a company route, and a personal trip can lead to different answers.

Direct claims against the employer

Some claims focus on the company’s own choices. These can include negligent hiring, training, supervision, or retention. They can also involve letting a driver use a vehicle when the company knew or should have known the driver was unfit.

Independent contractor questions

A contract label does not settle the question. Questions about the relationship between a trucking company and its driver often come up in these cases.

Other businesses

A vehicle lessor or maintenance contractor may share responsibility in some cases. Whether federal law limits a claim against a lessor depends on the facts and the type of claim involved.

Company Vehicles and Insurance: What Coverage May Apply

Several insurance policies can be involved in one crash. Common examples include a business’s commercial auto policy and the driver’s personal auto policy.

• Commercial policies are bought by a business to cover its vehicles.
• Personal policies belong to the driver. They may still matter when a company vehicle is involved.
• Federal rules set minimum coverage for some interstate trucks. For-hire carriage of nonhazardous property in trucks rated 10,001 pounds or more requires at least $750,000 in public liability coverage under federal financial responsibility rules. That is a minimum, not the value of any claim.

Georgia also limits when you can add a motor carrier’s insurer to a lawsuit. In general, the insurer can be added only in narrow cases. Examples include when a related carrier is insolvent or bankrupt, or when service cannot be made after reasonable diligence. See Georgia motor carrier insurance law.

Georgia’s At-Fault Rules and the Deadline to File

Georgia generally lets an injured person pursue the people whose negligence caused the crash. The general deadline for injury claims is two years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).

• Deadline. Under Georgia’s injury filing law-2023-pdf.pdf)-2023-pdf.pdf)-2023-pdf.pdf), actions for injuries to the person must be brought within two years after the right of action accrues. Other deadlines can apply to some claims.
• Shared fault. Georgia uses modified comparative fault. Damages are reduced by the injured person’s percentage of fault. Under Georgia’s fault reduction law-pdf.pdf)-pdf.pdf)-pdf.pdf), a person who is 50 percent or more responsible cannot receive damages.
• Separate shares. Each liable person pays its own percentage of fault. Under the same law, how liability is shared among responsible parties depends on the facts of each case and on recognized exceptions.
• Government entities. Claims against a county, city, or other government entity follow different rules. This firm does not handle those claims.

Steps Injured People Can Take Now

Get medical care right away, even when symptoms seem mild. Follow the treatment plan from your medical doctor, and keep every record.

• Report the crash to police. Write down the crash report number.
• Take photos of the vehicles, the scene, your injuries, and any company name, phone number, or unit number on the vehicle.
• Write down the driver’s name, the employer’s name, and any DOT or fleet number you can see.
• Ask for evidence to be kept. Dashcam video, electronic logging device data, maintenance records, and dispatch messages can be lost if no one requests them in time.
• Know the testing windows. Federal rules require employers to test surviving drivers for alcohol and drugs after certain crashes. Federal post-accident testing rules require alcohol tests as soon as practicable; if a test is not given within two hours, the employer must keep a record of the reasons it was not promptly administered, and attempts to give an alcohol test stop after eight hours. Drug test attempts stop after 32 hours.
• Driver files matter. Motor carriers must keep a driver qualification file for each driver.
• Be careful with recorded statements to any insurer, including the employer’s insurer.
• Keep records of bills, pharmacy receipts, and missed work. A daily journal of pain, sleep, and limits can show how the injury affects your life.

What a Claim May Include: Economic and Non-Economic Damages

A claim can seek economic losses, such as medical bills and lost income. It can also seek non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering.

• Economic losses: past and future medical care, hospital bills, rehabilitation, prescriptions, and lost wages.
• Non-economic losses: pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Medical expense rules matter. Under Georgia’s medical expense law-pdf.pdf)-pdf.pdf)-pdf.pdf), medical expenses are limited to the reasonable value of medically necessary care. If you have health insurance, evidence can include both the amounts charged and the amounts needed to satisfy those charges. Itemized charges and letters of protection (a promise to be paid from a settlement) are relevant and discoverable.

For a fatal crash, Georgia law lets a surviving spouse, or children if there is no spouse, recover the full value of the decedent’s life, as shown by the evidence. A surviving spouse receives no less than one-third of the recovery. See Georgia’s wrongful death law.

What to Expect From a Free Case Review to Resolution

A free case review starts with a confidential conversation about your crash, your injuries, and your treatment. Here is how the process usually moves.

1. Contact. Reach the intake team by phone, online form, or chat, in English or Spanish.
2. Intake talk. You share what happened, your treatment, and any insurance information you have.
3. Investigation. The review can include the crash report, medical records, employer and insurer details, and vehicle data where available.
4. Negotiation. The firm can notify responsible parties and negotiate with insurers. You stay informed at each stage.
5. Lawsuit if needed. If a fair resolution is not reached, a lawsuit can be filed within the deadline.

Adanna Ugwonali is the firm’s lawyer, and she works from the firm’s office at 3400 Peachtree Road NE in Atlanta. The firm represents clients in metro Atlanta counties, including Fulton, Clayton, Cobb, and Rockdale, and across Georgia. Adanna Ugwonali is the responsible lawyer. Our team, including support staff, handles intake and scheduling in English or Spanish.

Your first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue. You may still be responsible for court costs and case expenses.

You can reach our intake team through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions