---
title: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-3. Extraordinary diligence and slight negligence defined.
collection: code
id: 51-1-3
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-3 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-3
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-3.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-3/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t51-(v39)-2017-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=6b891965_0#page=30
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
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publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: TORTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 51-1-3. Extraordinary diligence and slight negligence defined.

In general, extraordinary diligence is that extreme care and caution which very prudent and thoughtful persons exercise under the same or similar circumstances. As applied to the preservation of property, the term ‘‘extraordinary diligence’’ means that extreme care and caution which very prudent and thoughtful persons use in securing and preserving their own property. The absence of such extraordinary diligence is termed slight negligence.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2035; Code 1868, § 2036; Code 1873, § 2062; Code 1882, § 2062; Civil Code 1895, § 2899; Civil Code 1910, § 3472; Code 1933, § 105-202.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘The Georgia Jury and Negligence: The View from the Bench,’’ see 26 Ga. L. Rev. 85 (1992).

For comment on Planter’s Elec. Membership Corp. v. Bulse, 98 Ga. App. 380, 105 S.E.2d 787 (1958), see 22 Ga. B. J. 249 (1959).

## History of Code Section.

The language of this Code section is derived in part from the decision in Alabama M. Ry. v. Guilford, 119 Ga. 523, 46 S.E. 655 (1904).