David Williams, the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said that a 22% increase in Georgia car insurance rates last year is a result of the state’s legal climate.
Georgia was ranked the #1 “Judicial Hellhole” in the U.S. in a December 2023 report released by the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA).
“The 22 percent increase in car insurance rates last year shows the real-life implications and drag that tort litigation has on the economy,” Williams told the GA News Gazette. “An easy way to help Georgia citizens is to reform tort litigation and make sure that consumers’ and taxpayers’ interests come before that of trial attorneys.”
“The ATRA ranking is bad news for consumers and the economy of Georgia,” Williams said. “Being ranked #1 means that consumers are feeling the financial pinch of mass tort litigation.”
Georgia car insurance rates increased 22% from 2022 to 2023, an increase of more than $356 per year, reported Marketwatch.
Higher insurance rates are one of the results of a state’s legal climate, said ATRA President Sherman “Tiger” Joyce in a statement announcing the 2023 “Judicial Hellhole” report.
Georgia’s #1 ranking in that report is due, in part, to “nuclear verdicts” and “an archaic seatbelt gag rule that precludes a jury from hearing evidence about whether an occupant wore a seatbelt at the time of a crash,” said the ATRA report.
Williams has been president of TPA since the organization’s founding in 2011. TPA is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization that conducts research and analysis on various aspects of government spending and taxation. The organization engages in a range of activities, including publishing reports, organizing campaigns, and providing commentary on fiscal matters.