A breach of duty occurs when someone doesn’t uphold their legal obligations to another party. In the context of Georgia personal injury claims, a breach of duty typically involves someone injuring another person through their actions or failure to act, such as by speeding or drinking and driving.
If you have questions about a serious accident and whether a breach of duty occurred, an experienced attorney can review the accident and explain your legal options. Personal injury lawyers routinely grapple with these issues when developing a personal injury lawsuit. You’ll find an overview of breach of duty and how it relates to proving negligence in personal injury law.
What Is Negligence in Georgia Law?
Negligence occurs when someone fails to uphold their legal responsibility to avoid injuring another party to whom they owe a duty of care. For example, Georgia drivers have a legal duty to obey traffic laws and avoid injuring other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians through unsafe driving. A careless driver who disregards traffic laws and causes a car accident may be held responsible for any injuries resulting from their negligent actions.
In Georgia, a person must prove four legal elements to have a successful personal injury claim based on negligence. The four elements are:
- Duty – The person who caused the accident must have owed a legal duty to the injured party. For example, property owners must take reasonable measures to maintain their property in a safe condition to protect visitors.
- Breach—The at-fault party violated their duty by acting unreasonably or failing to act when required. For example, a negligent property owner could fail to repair hazardous conditions.
- Causation – The defendant’s conduct must have directly caused the plaintiff’s injuries. Without this connection, the defendant cannot be held liable.
- Damages – The plaintiff must show they suffered measurable harm after an injury occurred, such as medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering, as a result of the defendant’s conduct.
How Do You Prove Negligence in a Georgia Personal Injury Case?
An attorney can gather evidence showing how someone’s negligent actions caused your injuries and other losses resulting from an accident. Common types of evidence showing negligence in Georgia personal injury claims include:
- Eyewitness Accounts – Statements from bystanders, passengers, or other involved parties can corroborate your version of events and clarify the defendant’s actions. For example, an eyewitness may have seen a driver looking at their phone or noticed a puddle of liquid in a store that a property owner failed to clean up.
- Photographs and Videos – Images or footage of the accident scene, damage, or hazardous conditions provide a visual record of the defendant’s breach of duty.
- Police or Incident Reports – Official documentation of an accident often includes critical details, such as traffic citations, accident scene diagrams, or witness accounts, offering an unbiased account of the incident.
- Medical Records – Detailed medical reports can link your injuries to the incident and show the severity of harm, supporting your claim to recover compensation from the at-fault party and their insurance company.
- Surveillance Footage – Security cameras, traffic cameras, or dash cams may capture the at-fault party’s actions leading up to the incident, such as speeding or running a red light.
- Physical Evidence – Items like damaged vehicles, defective products, or debris help demonstrate the connection between the defendant’s actions and the accident. For instance, examining a vehicle involved in a crash may reveal a manufacturing or design defect with critical components.
- Expert Opinions – Accident reconstruction specialists, traffic engineers, or doctors can provide insights into the technical aspects of the case. Their testimony can strengthen personal injury claims.
- Electronic Data – Smartphone records, GPS logs, or vehicle black boxes can reveal distractions, speeding, or other negligent behaviors that contribute to accidents.
- Maintenance or Inspection Records – Documents showing a failure to follow through with needed vehicle repairs or property maintenance can help establish negligence.
What Are Some Examples of Breach of Duty?
Common examples of breach of duty that can cause serious injuries include:
- Running a Red Light – A driver who ignores traffic signals can cause serious accidents, such as T-bone collisions, injuring other motorists or pedestrians.
- Failing to Repair Dangerous Conditions – A property owner who doesn’t fix a broken staircase or repair a broken gate to a swimming pool puts visitors at risk of an accident, making the property owner liable if injuries occur.
- Driving While Distracted – Texting or using a smartphone while driving takes the driver’s focus off the road, increasing the likelihood of crashes.
- Selling Defective Products – Manufacturers who release faulty items, such as a malfunctioning airbag, may cause harm to consumers and face liability under product liability laws.
- Medical Errors – A healthcare provider may breach their duty to provide competent care by misdiagnosing an illness or performing a procedure incorrectly and injuring a patient. Preventable medical errors may be the basis of a medical malpractice claim.
- Negligent Security – A business that fails to install proper lighting or functioning locks to maintain adequate security may expose patrons to crimes and severe injuries.
- Overloading a Truck – A trucking company that overloads a vehicle may cause the driver to lose control, resulting in accidents that harm others on the road.
- Serving Alcohol to Intoxicated Patrons – A bar serving an obviously intoxicated person, who then causes a DUI accident, can be held accountable for enabling dangerous behavior.
What Are the Other Three Elements of a Negligence Case?
Along with breach of duty, the other core elements of a Georgia negligence case are:
- Duty – The defendant owed a legal responsibility to act with reasonable care toward the plaintiff.
- Causation – There must be a direct link between the defendant’s breach of duty and the plaintiff’s injuries.
- Damages – The plaintiff must prove they suffered measurable harm as a result of the defendant’s actions.
A Douglasville personal injury lawyer can evaluate your accident and discuss whether all the elements exist under Georgia personal injury law to pursue an injury claim.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Personal Injury Claim in Georgia?
Under Section 9-3-33 of the Code of Georgia, you usually have two years from the date you sustained your injuries to file a lawsuit against any negligent parties. However, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights. Waiting to speak to an attorney can allow crucial evidence to disappear or deteriorate, making it harder to prove negligence and that the defendant breached their duty. The sooner you contact a Georgia personal injury lawyer, the better your chances of recovering fair compensation.
Contact a Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer
With over 85 years of combined experience, the Georgia personal injury attorneys at Sherrod & Bernard, P.C. know what it takes to prove negligence and help injured people recover fair compensation. If we represent you, our attorneys will handle all communications with the insurance company. We’ve recovered millions of dollars for our clients through insurance settlements and trial verdicts. We handle all the legal work in your case after we enter an attorney-client relationship. Call now or complete our contact form for a free consultation.
