A car leaving a gas station hit the bus you were driving, then a second car: how fault is weighed

Attorney Answer

Fault may well be shared, and Georgia divides it by percentage. Entering a center turn lane too early breaks a specific traffic rule, but a driver pulling out of a gas station must yield to all traffic on the road, and in a similar crash a jury found the two drivers equally at fault. Who pays, and whether you could be personally responsible, depends on who runs the bus: a public school district or a private company.

The two traffic rules. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-126:

Whenever a highway or roadway has a central lane in which traffic may enter from either direction for the purposes of making a left turn, no vehicle shall be driven into such central lane except for the purpose of making a left turn, and no vehicle shall enter into such central lane at a location which is more than 300 feet from the location where the vehicle will turn left across one or more lanes of oncoming traffic. No vehicle which has been driven into such a central lane shall be operated in such central lane for more than 300 feet.

O.C.G.A. § 40-6-73:

The driver of a vehicle about to enter or cross a roadway from any place other than another roadway shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching on the roadway to be entered or crossed.

In Driscoll v. Walters, 267 Ga. App. 688, 600 S.E.2d 744 (2004), a driver pulling out of a store lot collided with a driver who had entered the center turn lane early, and the jury found them equally negligent.

How fault is divided. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, a jury assigns each driver a percentage of the fault, and each pays only that share of the damages. A claimant who is 50 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. Subsection (g):

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Code section or any other provisions of law which might be construed to the contrary, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to receive any damages if the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for the injury or damages claimed.

If a public school district runs the bus. Georgia school districts share the state's sovereign immunity, and the statute requiring districts to insure students riding their buses does not waive it: Fulton County School District v. Jenkins, 347 Ga. App. 448, 820 S.E.2d 75 (2018). A separate statute, O.C.G.A. § 33-24-51, waives a local government's immunity for its motor vehicles to the extent of insurance bought above set limits, as the Supreme Court of Georgia explained in Gates v. Glass, 291 Ga. 350, 729 S.E.2d 361 (2012), a county case; how that applies to a school district's buses is a question for the lawyers. Your own exposure is a further question: Georgia's Constitution, and the cases applying it to local employees, make a public employee personally liable for negligence in ministerial duties, and in discretionary ones only for actual malice or intent to injure. Which kind of duty driving a school bus is, a lawyer would research.

If a private company runs it. An employer answers for an employee's negligence “in the prosecution and within the scope of his business”, under O.C.G.A. § 51-2-2, and its commercial insurer usually handles a claim against the driver.

What you can do

1. Report the crash and the other driver's accusation to your employer right away.

2. If you are served with a lawsuit, give it to your employer the same day so it reaches the insurer or the district's lawyers.

3. Do not discuss fault with the other drivers or their insurers; refer them to your employer.

4. Ask whether the bus had cameras, and ask that the footage be kept.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Georgia attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A served defendant must answer within 30 days of service under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12(a)(1). The other drivers have two years to sue for injuries under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, and four years for vehicle damage under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31.