Pedestrian Rights in Georgia Car Accident Claims
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A pedestrian hit by a car in Georgia has the same negligence claim as anyone else, with rules of the road on both sides. Drivers must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and must “exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway” wherever they are. Pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to vehicles. A pedestrian’s own fault reduces recovery and ends it at 50 percent, but crossing outside a crosswalk does not by itself bar a claim.
The rules
| Rule | Who it binds | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk on the vehicle's half of the roadway, or approaching within one lane of it | Drivers | O.C.G.A. § 40-6-91(a) |
| Do not suddenly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close the driver cannot yield | Pedestrians | § 40-6-91(b) |
| Outside a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, yield to vehicles, unless already safely in the roadway | Pedestrians | § 40-6-92(a) |
| Exercise due care to avoid any pedestrian, sound the horn when necessary, and take proper precautions on seeing a child or an obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person | Drivers | § 40-6-93 |
Section 40-6-93 applies “Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter,” so a driver’s duty of care continues even when the pedestrian did not have the right of way.
Crossing outside a crosswalk
A pedestrian who crossed mid-block and failed to yield may share the fault. The jury weighs the pedestrian’s conduct against the driver’s, such as speed, attention, and whether the driver could have avoided the person, and assigns percentages under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. For example, imagine a pedestrian with $80,000 in damages who crossed mid-block at night and was hit by a driver going over the limit. If the jury assigned 30 percent to the pedestrian, the recovery would be $56,000; at 50 percent, it would be nothing. The figures are illustrative only.
Children
Section 40-6-93 requires drivers to take “proper precautions upon observing any child”. A child’s own conduct is measured by a child’s standard: due care for “a child of tender years” is the care the child’s “mental and physical capacities enable him to exercise” (O.C.G.A. § 51-1-5). The rules for children’s claims are covered in how minors are treated in Georgia car accident claims.
Insurance for an injured pedestrian
A pedestrian’s claim runs against the driver and the driver’s liability insurance. If the driver is uninsured, underinsured, or unknown, the pedestrian’s own uninsured motorist coverage, if the pedestrian has an auto policy that covers it, may respond; see Georgia UM/UIM coverage. If the driver fled, the hit-and-run conditions apply, as explained in hit-and-run victim claims in Georgia.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-91, 40-6-92, 40-6-93, 51-1-5, 51-12-33 (text of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 release).
This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.