Sep 30, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial · Georgia · Tort reform · YMYL

Georgia's 2025 tort bills did not move the two years

SB 68 and SB 69 were both signed April 21, 2025. The injury clock is still two years, and the blame bar is still 50%. The new seat-belt rule depends on when the lawsuit was filed.

Last checked Sep 30, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial. Educational only, not legal advice.

Georgia did not shorten the time to sue in 2025. An ordinary injury is still two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. The shared-blame rule did not move either. If you are 50% or more at fault, you recover nothing. Below that, the award is cut by your share. That is O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, and it was already the law. There is still no general dollar cap on pain and suffering.

What did change is easy to mash into one headline. Two bills were signed the same day, April 21, 2025. SB 69 was signed last. On seat belts, the later bill controls. Not wearing one may now be heard on fault and on the size of the harm, under O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1(d). That change applies to cases commenced on or after April 21, 2025. A lawsuit already pending that morning stays on the old rule, which kept the seat belt out.

Two other pieces use a different date. Negligent-security claims, SB 68 section 6, and the medical-bill rule, SB 68 section 7 and O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1, apply only to causes of action arising on or after April 21, 2025. An older injury keeps the older law even if the complaint is filed later. The seat-belt date is the day the suit starts. The security and medical-bill date is the day the injury happened. They are not the same day.

A jury hearing that a belt was off is not a new filing deadline, and it is not an automatic zero. The 50% bar is a separate statute. Not wearing a belt also cannot, by itself, cancel the insurance policy or raise the rate. That limit is still in § 40-8-76.1(d)(2).

This is the map of the 2025 bills, not a reading of one crash, and not legal advice. Last checked 30 September 2026 against Ga. L. 2025, p. 19, § 9(b) (SB 68), Ga. L. 2025, p. 31 (SB 69, signed last), O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-33, 51-12-33, 40-8-76.1, and 51-12-1.1.