Georgia will reduce the award of damages by the proportion of fault attributed to the plaintiff. That is what modified comparative negligence means. Originally, if the plaintiff was at all at fault in causing an accident, and injuries, that contributory negligence was a bar to recovery, a complete defense to any tort action. However, this theory of liability was considered too harsh, and unrealistic. States like Georgia developed a theory of modified comparative negligence to allocate blame between the parties, and reduce awards accordingly.