Georgia § 40-6-394 - Serious injury by vehicle; penalty.

§ 40-6-394. Serious injury by vehicle; penalty.

As used in this Code section, the term "bodily harm" means an injury to another person which deprives him or her of a member of his or her body, renders a member of his or her body useless, seriously disfigures his or her body or a member thereof, or causes organic brain damage which renders his or her body or any member thereof useless. Any person who, without malice aforethought, causes an accident that results in bodily harm while violating Code Section 40-6-390 or 40-6-391 commits the crime of serious injury by vehicle. A person convicted of violating this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than 15 years. Any person who, without malice aforethought, proximately causes an accident that the person knew resulted in bodily harm and leaves the scene of the accident in violation of subsection (b) of Code Section 40-6-270 commits the crime of serious injury by vehicle; provided, however, that there shall be no violation of this subsection if the parties involved in the accident exchange motor vehicle insurance information prior to leaving the scene of the accident. A person convicted of violating this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years. (Code 1933, § 68A-903.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1979, p. 768, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 18; Ga. L. 1989, p. 232, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 5; Ga. L. 1999, p. 391, § 10; Ga. L. 2019, p. 491, § 3/SB 1.) The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, rewrote this Code section, which read: "Whoever, without malice, shall cause bodily harm to another by depriving him of a member of his body, by rendering a member of his body useless, by seriously disfiguring his body or a member thereof, or by causing organic brain damage which renders the body or any member thereof useless through the violation of Code Section 40-6-390 or 40-6-391 shall be guilty of the crime of serious injury by vehicle. A person convicted under this Code section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than 15 years." Cross references. - Maintenance of separate causes of action for personal injury and property damage caused by single act of wrongful or negligent operation of motor vehicle, § 51-1-32 . Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 1999, p. 391, § 2, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as 'Heidi's Law.'" Ga. L. 2019, p. 491, § 1/SB 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as 'C.J.'s Law.'" Law reviews. - For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 145 (2019). For note on the 1989 amendment to this Code section, see 6 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 281 (1989).