The principal issue in this appeal is the application of our decision in Hobbs v. Arthur , 264 Ga. 359 444 SE2d 322 1994, where we held that, “inasmuch as diligence in perfecting service of process in an action properly refiled under OCGA § 9-2-61 a must be measured from the time of filing the renewed suit, any delay in service in a valid first action is not available as an affirmative defense in the renewal action.” 264 Ga. at 360-361. In this case, the plaintiff waited almost two years to file a complaint for personal injury and property damage arising out of a truck accident and almost five more years to serve the complaint on the defendants. Before the defendants had a chance to respond, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the complaint and filed a renewal action under OCGA § 9-2-61 a,1 and the complaint in the new action was then timely served on the defendants. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment based on the delay in service of the complaint in the original action, which the trial court granted. The Court of Appeals reversed but invited us to reconsider our decision in Hobbs in light of the lengthy delay involved in this case. Boyd v. Robinson , 299 Ga. App. 795 683 SE2d 862 2009. We granted the defendants’ petition for certiorari and now affirm. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff as the party opposing summary judgment, the facts are as follows. On February 22, 2000, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gary Robinson backed the tractor-trailer he was driving for Eckerd Corporation several times into the cab of a parked tractor-trailer that Allen Boyd, Jr. was driving. Boyd took photos of the damage with a camera provided by his employer for documenting accidents, and the police responded and filed a report. Robinson provided Boyd with the following handwritten explanation: “While trying to pull into a parking area for trucks, as I started in, the back of the trailer swung around .. and caught the right side mirror, hood, and fender of another truck that was parked.” Punctuation and alterations added. Boyd alleges that he suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision, which were worsened by a second accident on July 3, 2000, when a City of Baton Rouge police cruiser rammed into his car while he was stopped at a red light. In 2001, Boyd and his wife filed a lawsuit in Louisiana to recover for his injuries from the Baton Rouge incident, which they settled in 2003 for $300,000.
Boyd waited until February 22, 2002, the last day before the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations, to file a complaint in Cobb County Superior Court based on the Georgia accident, naming Robinson and Eckerd as defendants. Boyd made no attempt to serve the defendants for nearly five years. Almost seven years after the accident, and almost five years after filing, Boyd perfected service of the complaint; he then promptly filed voluntary dismissals as to each defendant pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-41 a 1 a. Slightly less than six months later, Boyd filed a renewal action in Fulton County Superior Court under OCGA § 9-2-61 a, which was served on Robinson and Eckerd a week later.
