What does it mean that I had to use ordinary care for my own safety in a Georgia fall?

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Using ordinary care for one’s own safety means acting as a reasonably prudent person would under the same circumstances. In a Georgia slip-and-fall case, this is the standard the law applies to the injured person’s own conduct, and it works alongside the store’s duty rather than replacing it.

The shopper’s side of the equation

Georgia premises liability has two sides. The store must exercise ordinary care to keep its premises safe under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, and the shopper must exercise ordinary care for their own safety. To recover, an injured person generally has to show the store had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard and that the person did not know about it despite using ordinary care.

Ordinary care does not mean perfection or constant vigilance. Georgia does not require a shopper to keep their eyes glued to the floor or to anticipate hidden dangers. It asks only what a reasonable person would have done given everything happening around them, including signs, displays, lighting, and the general flow of a store.

How the standard plays out

Whether a shopper used ordinary care is usually a fact question, and several things bear on it:

  • Whether the hazard was obvious or concealed.
  • Whether warnings or barriers were present and visible.
  • Whether the shopper was reasonably attentive or instead ignored a clear danger.
  • Whether a store-created distraction reasonably explains a lapse in attention.

Falling short of ordinary care does not always end a claim. Georgia uses a percentage-based comparative-fault system under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, so a shopper assigned part of the fault has their recovery reduced by that share, and only a shopper found 50% or more responsible is barred entirely. The standard therefore affects how much a person can recover, not just whether they can.

The bottom line

Ordinary care for one’s own safety in a Georgia fall means behaving as a reasonably prudent person would in the same setting, not achieving perfect awareness. It pairs with the store’s duty to keep premises safe, and a shopper’s failure to meet it typically reduces recovery under Georgia’s comparative-fault rules rather than automatically defeating the claim, unless that fault reaches half or more.

This article is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and Georgia law may change. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed Georgia personal injury attorney.

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