2020 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 6 - Uniform Rules of the Road
Article 12 - Accidents
§ 40-6-275. Duty to Remove Vehicle From Public Roads; Removal of Incapacitated Vehicle From State Highway

1. Any other provision of this article or any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents and the drivers of such motor vehicles shall be subject to the provisions of this Code section.
2. This Code section shall apply to motor vehicle traffic accidents which occur on the public roads of this state as defined in paragraph (24) of Code Section 32-1-3. Any violation of this Code section shall be punishable as a misdemeanor pursuant to Code Section 40-6-1.
3. When a motor vehicle traffic accident occurs with no apparent serious personal injury or death, it shall be the duty of the drivers of the motor vehicles involved in such traffic accident, or any other occupant of any such motor vehicle who possesses a valid driver's license, to remove said vehicles from the immediate confines of the roadway into a safe refuge on the shoulder, emergency lane, or median or to a place otherwise removed from the roadway whenever such moving of a vehicle can be done safely and the vehicle is capable of being normally and safely driven, does not require towing, and can be operated under its own power in its customary manner without further damage or hazard to itself, to the traffic elements, or to the roadway. The driver of any such motor vehicle may request any person who possesses a valid driver's license to remove any such motor vehicle as provided in this Code section, and any such person so requested shall be authorized to comply with such request.
4. The driver or any other person who has removed a motor vehicle from the main traveled way of the road as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section before the arrival of a police officer shall not be considered liable or at fault regarding the cause of the accident solely by reason of moving the vehicle pursuant to this Code section.
5. This Code section shall not abrogate or affect a driver's duty to file any written report which may be required by a local law enforcement agency, but compliance with the requirements of this Code section shall not allow a driver to be prosecuted for his or her failure to stop and immediately report a traffic accident.
6. This Code section shall not abrogate or affect a driver's duty to stop and give information in accordance with law, nor shall it relieve a police officer of his or her duty to render a report in accordance with law.
7. Employees of the Department of Transportation, in the exercise of the management, control, and maintenance of the state highways, may require and assist in the removal from the main traveled way of roads on the state highway system of all vehicles incapacitated from any cause other than having been involved in a motor vehicle accident and of all vehicles incapacitated as a result of motor vehicle traffic accidents and of debris caused thereby when such motor vehicle accidents occur with no apparent serious personal injury or death, where such move can be accomplished safely by the drivers of the vehicles involved or with the assistance of a towing or recovery vehicle and will result in the improved safety or convenience of travel upon the road. However, a vehicle incapacitated as a result of a motor vehicle traffic accident with apparent serious personal injury or death may not be moved until the enforcement officer has made the necessary measurements and diagrams required for the initial accident investigation.

(Ga. L. 1974, p. 969, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 742, §§ 1, 2; Code 1981, §40-6-276; Code 1981, §40-6-275, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 5; Ga. L. 1993, p. 370, § 2; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 40; Ga. L. 1999, p. 904, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 896, § 1.)

- For annual survey article discussing developments in criminal law, see 51 Mercer L. Rev. 209 (1999).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- O.C.G.A. § 40-6-275 is unconstitutionally vague on the statute's face, in that the statute compels a driver who is involved in an accident and who believes in good faith that a vehicle has incurred "extensive" property damage to leave the driver's vehicle in the roadway at the driver's peril, not knowing whether others will conclude that the damage was something less than "extensive." State v. Johnson, 270 Ga. 111, 507 S.E.2d 443 (1998).

- In a personal injury case, the trial court abused the court's discretion by granting the defendant's motion in limine because the excluded evidence was relevant to the most important issue of the case, whether the defendant parked the vehicle in the middle of the road; thus, the trial court's exclusion precluded the plaintiff from establishing that the defendant may have been intoxicated at the time the vehicle was left and/or from opportunities to impeach the defendant's testimony. Barrett v. Burnette, 348 Ga. App. 838, 824 S.E.2d 701 (2019).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, § 374.

- Duty toward travelers as regards condition of street or highway left as result of an accident therein, 81 A.L.R. 1004.

Constitutionality, construction, and effect of statutes in relation to conduct of driver of automobile after happening of accident, 101 A.L.R. 911.

Criminal responsibility for injury or death in operation of mechanically defective motor vehicle, 88 A.L.R.2d 1165.