When someone who suffered a personal injury first contacts an attorney about his or her legal rights, one of the first questions the attorney will ask is when the accident occurred. This is because of the statute of limitations, the rule that prevents certain lawsuits from going forward if they are not brought before a court soon enough after the original accident. For example, in Georgia the statute of limitations for most personal injuries is two years. Generally this means a lawsuit must be filed within two years of when the injury occurred (although in some cases it may be two years from when the injury is discovered).

But in September of 2009, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided a case which may give some injury victims additional time to file their lawsuit, if the wrongdoer in the case has been charged with a crime — even a minor crime, such as a traffic offense. The case, Beneke v. Parker, turned on whether the statute of limitations in a personal injury case could be tolled (temporarily stopped) until a traffic fine had been paid by the wrongdoer, thus giving the injury victim more time to file suit.

Two Types of Trials: Civil and Criminal

To understand how the Court’s ruling may affect personal injury victims, it is important to remember that there are two kinds of court proceedings, civil and criminal. In a civil case, one individual sues another for some sort of wrongdoing, while in a criminal case, it is the government that alleges that the person has engaged in wrongdoing. Sometimes both types of legal proceedings stem from one incident. One famous example of this is the O.J. Simpson case, in which Simpson was found not guilty of murder in a criminal court, but was then successfully sued for wrongful death in civil court by the families whose loved ones had been killed.

Since 2005, Georgia law has allowed a tolling of the statute of limitations for civil cases until any related criminal proceedings have finished. Evidence of guilt from a criminal case is often used in civil cases to demonstrate wrongdoing, so this law lets the victims delay undertaking a civil suit until the criminal case is resolved. This allows them to testify in the criminal case without fear that the wrongdoer will accuse the victim of testifying just to bolster their chances of winning money damages in their civil case.

The Beneke v. Parker Case

Although the law that tolls the statute of limitations was likely conceived to deal with more serious crimes, the facts in Beneke v. Parker deal with a car accident in which one driver was ticketed for the misdemeanor offense of following too closely.

The injured plaintiff, Patricia Parker, was a passenger in a car that was struck and overturned by a car driven by Alan Beneke on April 27, 2005. Parker sued Beneke a little over two years later, on May 11, 2007. Because more than two years had elapsed, Beneke asked the court to dismiss the case, citing the statute of limitations. But Parker argued that the case should proceed because the statute of limitations had been tolled until May 19, 2005, the date when Beneke had paid his ticket for following too closely.

The Supreme Court of Georgia had to consider whether a minor offense such as following too closely fell within the definition of a “crime” as conceived by the Georgia Legislature when they wrote the law. The Court unanimously agreed that it was a crime, even though there was no criminal intent or criminal negligence on Beneke’s part, and thus the statute of limitations had been tolled until Beneke had discharged his obligation by paying the ticket.

Impact of the Ruling on Injury Victims

In its decision, the Court pointed out that this ruling has great ramifications for personal injury cases in which a traffic citation is issued. Although the ruling means that often car accident victims (as well as some other injury victims) will have slightly longer to file their lawsuit, it also requires the accident victim to determine whether any criminal proceedings against the wrongdoer have concluded, and thus when the statute of limitations will in fact run out.

Although the law may grant additional time to file a lawsuit in some situations, it does take time just to determine how long this window of opportunity may be. For this reason, it is even more important than ever that people who have been injured talk to an attorney sooner rather than later, to determine their legal rights. The law allows a maximum of six years tolling of the statute of limitations, so there is a time limit even for ongoing criminal cases.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, or any accident in which someone else may be at fault, talk to an experienced personal injury attorney who is familiar with the ruling in Beneke v. Parker and understands how it may affect your legal rights.