Bicycle Accidents Involving Children in Georgia

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A child hurt on a bicycle is measured against a different statutory standard of care than an adult, a statute says a helmet violation is not evidence of negligence or liability, a settlement for a child follows dollar thresholds that decide when a court must approve it, and the filing period is counted from age 18. When a child cyclist injures someone else, Georgia law asks a separate question: whether the parents themselves were negligent.

How Georgia Measures a Child’s Care

OCGA 51-1-5 defines the standard: “The term ‘due care,’ when used in reference to a child of tender years, is such care as the child’s mental and physical capacities enable him to exercise in the actual circumstances of the occasion and situation under investigation.” The measure is the individual child’s capacities and the circumstances, not the care of an adult. The traffic chapter’s vehicle provisions that are not limited to motor vehicles also apply to bicycles, with exceptions, including certain penalties that do not apply to bicycle riders (OCGA 40-6-291(a)).

The Helmet Statute

OCGA 40-6-296(d)(1) provides that “[n]o person under the age of 16 years shall operate or be a passenger on a bicycle on a highway, bicycle path, bicycle lane, or sidewalk under the jurisdiction or control of this state or any local political subdivision thereof without wearing a bicycle helmet.” A bicycle helmet is “a piece of protective headgear which meets or exceeds the impact standards for bicycle helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the Snell Memorial Foundation,” and a person wears one “only if a bicycle helmet of good fit is fastened securely upon such person’s head with the straps” (OCGA 40-6-296(d)(2), (3)).

The provision that matters in a civil claim is subsection (d)(5): “Violation of any provision of this subsection shall not constitute negligence per se nor contributory negligence per se or be considered evidence of negligence or liability.” Subsection (d)(6) adds: “No person under the age of 16 failing to comply with any provision of this subsection shall be fined or imprisoned.” The seat-belt statute is worded differently: failure to wear a seat safety belt may be considered in a civil action as evidence on negligence, comparative negligence, causation, assumption of risk, apportionment of fault, or for any other purpose, subject to the court’s determination of admissibility under OCGA 24-4-403 or other rules of evidence (OCGA 40-8-76.1(d)(1)).

What the Driver Owed

Every driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on a roadway, must sound the horn when necessary, and must exercise proper precautions upon observing any child (OCGA 40-6-93).

Reducing a Child’s Recovery

If the injured child is partly responsible, the trier of fact sets the child’s percentage of fault and the judge reduces the damages in proportion, and a plaintiff 50 percent or more responsible recovers nothing (OCGA 51-12-33(a), (g)).

For example, imagine a factfinder that sets a child’s damages at $80,000 and assigns the child 25 percent of the fault; the award falls to $60,000.

When the Child Causes Harm

Because Georgia treats children under 13 as immune from tort liability, a claim over harm a young cyclist causes runs against the parents, and it turns on what the parents knew. In Sowell v. Solomon, No. A21A1720 (Ga. Ct. App. Feb. 22, 2022), a 10-year-old riding on a sidewalk tried to cross a street between parked cars and collided with an adult cyclist, who fell into a parked car and died of a head injury a few days later. The widow sued the parents, not the child; the court noted, quoting an earlier decision, Sorrells v. Miller, 218 Ga. App. 641 (1995), that “[i]n Georgia, children below the age of 13 are immune from tort liability.” The claims were negligent entrustment, negligent supervision, and negligent training and instruction. The Court of Appeals reversed the denial of summary judgment for the parents. The parents had taught the child to ride about six years earlier, the child had ridden supervised and unsupervised without an accident, and nothing showed the parents had reason to anticipate the harm; where the claim is a failure to supervise or control, the court explained, a key question is whether the parents knew facts from which they should reasonably have anticipated harm to another. The court also wrote that “[t]he law does not insulate parents from direct liability for all negligent acts of their children. Nor does it subject parents to liability every time a child commits a negligent act,” and that its ruling was not “a blanket rule that parents are automatically immune from damages for direct negligence claims if a child gets into an accident while riding a bike unsupervised.”

Settlements for a Minor

OCGA 29-3-3 sets thresholds that depend on the “gross settlement” and the “net settlement.” The net figure is the gross settlement reduced by attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and enforceable liens paid from the proceeds, by the present value of amounts the minor will receive after reaching majority, and by the present value of amounts placed in a court-approved trust (OCGA 29-3-3(a)).

  • Gross of $25,000.00 or less. The natural guardian, “without becoming the conservator of the minor and without any court approval,” may compromise the claim (OCGA 29-3-3(c)(1)).
  • Gross above $25,000.00, net of $25,000.00 or less. The settlement “shall be submitted for approval” to the probate court if no legal action has been initiated, or to the court in which the action is pending, and no conservator is required to compromise the claim (OCGA 29-3-3(c)(2)).
  • Gross and net above $25,000.00. “A conservator shall be required to compromise the claim” and to submit the settlement for court approval (OCGA 29-3-3(c)(3)).

If the minor has a conservator, “the only person who can compromise a minor’s claim is the conservator” (OCGA 29-3-3(b)).

The Clock for a Child

A person under 18 when the claim accrues has the same time after turning 18 that others have, except as OCGA 9-3-33.1 provides, and for an injury to the person that time is two years after the right of action accrues (OCGA 9-3-90(b); OCGA 9-3-33). For example, imagine a child injured at age 9:

Event Authority Example date
Injury OCGA 9-3-33 (accrual) October 1, 2027
Child turns 18 OCGA 9-3-90(b) October 1, 2036
Two years after age 18 OCGA 9-3-33 with 9-3-90(b) October 1, 2038

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a bike shop rent a bicycle to a child without a helmet?
No. A bicycle may not be rented or leased to or for a person under 16 without an accompanying helmet unless that person already has one at the time of the rental or lease (OCGA 40-6-296(d)(4)).

May a child ride on the sidewalk?
Vehicles may not be driven on a sidewalk except at a permanent or authorized driveway, but a local government may, by resolution or ordinance, authorize bicycles on its sidewalks for riders 12 or younger (OCGA 40-6-144).

Are parents liable for a child’s willful or malicious acts?
A parent or guardian with custody and control of a child under 18 is liable up to $10,000.00 plus court costs for the child’s willful or malicious acts causing medical expenses or property damage to another, and that remedy adds to, rather than limits, other statutory and common law remedies (OCGA 51-2-3(a), (b)).

Can a child’s settlement be paid over time or held in trust?
Yes. An approved compromise may involve a structured settlement or the creation of a trust on terms that the probate court, or the court where the action is pending, approves or creates (OCGA 29-3-3(d)(2)(A)).

  • OCGA 51-1-5; OCGA 40-6-291(a)
  • OCGA 40-6-296(d); OCGA 40-8-76.1(d)(1); OCGA 40-6-144
  • OCGA 40-6-93
  • OCGA 51-12-33(a), (g)
  • Sowell v. Solomon, No. A21A1720 (Ga. Ct. App. Feb. 22, 2022); Sorrells v. Miller, 218 Ga. App. 641 (1995) (as quoted in Sowell)
  • OCGA 51-2-3(a), (b)
  • OCGA 29-3-3(a), (b), (c), (d)
  • OCGA 9-3-33; OCGA 9-3-90(b); OCGA 9-3-33.1

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about child bicycle injury claims under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. How these rules apply depends on the child’s age, the facts of the collision, the injuries involved, and the date of the injury. A family dealing with such a claim should consult a licensed Georgia attorney about the particular situation.

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