Airport Shuttle Accidents: Hotel and Transit Van Claims

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The claim of a passenger hurt in an airport shuttle or a hotel van depends on the duty Georgia law places on a carrier of passengers and on who operated the vehicle. A private company answers under the carrier rules. If a county, a city, or a state entity operated the vehicle, notice deadlines and limits on the government’s liability come first.

The Carrier’s Duty

Georgia sets two levels of care for carriers. Carriers as such are bound to exercise ordinary diligence, and common carriers as such are bound to use extraordinary diligence (OCGA 46-9-1). A separate section requires “[a] carrier of passengers” to exercise extraordinary diligence to protect the lives and persons of its passengers (OCGA 46-9-132). That section does not use the word “common,” does not mention a fare, and does not limit the duty to collisions. For a hotel or airport shuttle, the statutory questions are therefore whether the operator is a carrier of passengers and whether the injured person was its passenger when the injury happened, a question that can arise for a fall while boarding or leaving the vehicle as well as for a crash.

The Court of Appeals has answered the fare question for a free airport shuttle. In Saltis v. A.B.B. Daimler Benz, No. A00A0482 (Ga. Ct. App. Apr. 14, 2000), a passenger was hurt when the doors of the shuttle train at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport closed on the passenger during an attempt to get off. The court held that the operator, which ran the trains without charge between the terminals and concourses, owed its passengers extraordinary care under OCGA 46-9-132 and could be held liable for slight negligence, and it reversed summary judgment for the operator. It relied on an earlier definition of a carrier of passengers as one who undertakes to transport persons “from one place to another, gratuitously or for hire.” Under that definition, a hotel van is not taken out of the carrier rules because it charges no fare; the question remains whether the operator undertook to transport the guest.

Who Operated the Shuttle

A private company. For a for-hire intrastate operator, OCGA 40-2-140(d)(2) provides that “[n]o for-hire intrastate motor carrier shall be issued a registration unless there is filed with the commissioner a certificate of insurance,” and that the commissioner sets the amounts of that indemnity insurance. The policy must provide for the protection of passengers in passenger vehicles and of the public against the negligence of the carrier and its servants or agents, when that negligence is determined to be the proximate cause of an injury (OCGA 40-2-140(d)(2)).

A county or city. A county, municipal corporation, or consolidated city-county government, but not a local school system, is a “local government entity,” and a motor vehicle it owns, leases, or rents is a covered motor vehicle (OCGA 36-92-1(2), (3)). For incidents on or after January 1, 2008, its immunity for the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle is waived up to $500,000 for bodily injury or death of one person in one occurrence, $700,000 in the aggregate for two or more persons, and $50,000 for property, and the waiver rises to the extent the entity adopts a higher waiver, or has coverage through an interlocal risk management agency or commercial liability insurance above those amounts (OCGA 36-92-2(a)(3), (d)). A claim against a municipal corporation must be presented in writing within six months of the event (OCGA 36-33-5(b)), and a claim against a county within 12 months after it accrues, or, for a minor or another person under a disability, within 12 months after the disability is removed (OCGA 36-11-1).

A state entity. A tort claim against the State requires written notice within 12 months after the loss was or should have been discovered (OCGA 50-21-26(a)(1)). The Tort Claims Act’s definition of the State includes the State’s authorities but leaves out counties, municipalities, school districts, other units of local government, hospital authorities, and housing and other local authorities (OCGA 50-21-22(5)).

Notice Dates in Practice

For example, imagine an adult passenger injured in a shuttle van on June 15, 2027. If a municipal corporation operated the van, the six-month presentment period would end December 15, 2027. If a county operated it and the claim accrued on the date of the incident, the 12-month period would end June 15, 2028. A private operator would face neither presentment requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the injured passenger bring the shuttle company’s insurer into the lawsuit?
Only in limited situations. For a cause of action accruing on or after July 1, 2024, a person with a cause of action under OCGA 40-2-140 may join the motor carrier and its insurer only when a related motor carrier is insolvent or bankrupt, or when personal service on the driver or the carrier cannot be made after reasonable diligence (OCGA 40-2-140(d)(4); Ga. L. 2024, p. 966, § 4).

Does extraordinary diligence make the operator liable for every injury?
No. Once a carrier of passengers has used extraordinary diligence, it is not liable for its passengers’ injuries (OCGA 46-9-132).

If a city shuttle’s driver caused the injury, can the driver be sued personally?
Not for a tort involving the use of a covered motor vehicle in the performance of official duties. The action names the local government entity, and if the officer or employee is named individually, the entity is substituted as the defendant (OCGA 36-92-3(a), (b)).

Is a city or county liable if its driver was using the shuttle outside the job?
No. A local government entity has no liability for losses resulting from conduct of its officers or employees that was not within the scope of their official duties or employment (OCGA 36-92-2(c)).

  • OCGA 46-9-1; OCGA 46-9-132
  • Saltis v. A.B.B. Daimler Benz, No. A00A0482 (Ga. Ct. App. Apr. 14, 2000)
  • OCGA 40-2-140(d)(2), (d)(4); Ga. L. 2024, p. 966, § 4
  • OCGA 36-92-1(2), (3); OCGA 36-92-2(a)(3), (c), (d); OCGA 36-92-3(a), (b); OCGA 36-33-5(b); OCGA 36-11-1
  • OCGA 50-21-22(5); OCGA 50-21-26(a)(1)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about airport and hotel shuttle claims under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Who is responsible, and what notice is required, depends on who operated the vehicle and the specific facts. A person injured in a shuttle should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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