Four systems, and Georgia uses the stricter middle version
American fault law splits into four real categories: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, and pure contributory negligence. Georgia uses the 50% bar — the less common, stricter of the two modified thresholds nationally.
Georgia's rule: barred at the exact midpoint
Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, a claimant recovers only if their fault is less than 50%. A claimant at exactly 50% recovers nothing; only fault below that mark allows a reduced recovery.
The more forgiving alternative: a 51% bar
A larger group of about 21 states, including Connecticut and Delaware, use a more forgiving version: recovery is barred only when the claimant's fault actually exceeds the defendant's, not merely equals it. A claimant at exactly 50% still recovers a reduced amount in those states, while the same claimant recovers nothing at all in Georgia.
Pure comparative negligence: the more forgiving extreme
At the more forgiving end of the spectrum, pure comparative negligence states — including California and Arizona — never bar recovery for ordinary fault at all, no matter how high the claimant's percentage climbs. Georgia's approach produces a very different outcome the moment fault reaches the 50% mark.
Contributory negligence: the strictest extreme
At the far other end sit the five contributory negligence jurisdictions — Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia — where any fault at all, even 1%, bars recovery entirely. See our guide to the other states using a 50% bar for Georgia's closest peer group nationally.