Please accept this question and response from the accident lawyer from Boca Raton (injury lawyer Boynton Beach, accident attorney Coral Springs, injury attorney Lake Worth, accident lawyer Miami, injury attorney West Palm Beach).
Yes, not wearing a seatbelt can impact an injury case. Per the Seat Best statute referenced below, if a jury finds that your injuries were caused by not wearing a seat belt, it can assign comparative fault to you and thus your damages would be reduced. Thus, if a jury finds the other car was at fault for the accident and that you sustained total damages of $100,000.00 but that you were not wearing your seat belt and that not wearing your seat belt amounted to a 50 percent comparative fault finding, then your damages would be reduced to $50,000.00.
Under Florida law, passengers in a car are required to wear their seat belt. It is actually more specifically referring to front passengers. If you do not wear your seat belt and are injured in an accident, a jury may consider that in awarding you damages, as you will see below.
The applicable Florida Statute states:
The seat belt statute 316.614, Florida Statutes provides in part:
(4) It is unlawful for any person
(a) To operate a motor vehicle unless each front seat passenger of the vehicle under the age of 16 years is restrained by a safety belt or by a child restraint device pursuant to s. 316.613, if applicable, or
(b)To operate a motion vehicle in this state unless the person is restrained by a safety belt.
(5) It is unlawful for any person 16 years of age or older to be a passenger in the front seat of a motor vehicle unless such person is restrained by a safety belt when the vehicle is in motion.
Subsection ten (10) of F.S. 316.614 discusses how the seat belt statute should be used in a civil action:
A violation of the provisions of this section shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall such violation be used as prima facie evidence of negligence or be considered in mitigation of damages, but such violation may be considered as evidence of comparative negligence, in any civil action.
If you have been in a car accident where you believe the other car was at fault, please call attorney Gary J. Drucker at Drucker Law Offices for a free consultation at 561-483-9199 (Boca Raton Main office) or 954-755-2120 (Coral Springs satellite office), 561-967-3840 (Lake Worth satellite office) or 305-981-1561 (Miami satellite office). Generally, the law firm works on a contingency fee basis, which means that fees are only charged if the law firm recovers money for you. Please call today for a free consultation!
Every case is different and unique and should be judged based on its specific facts. The legal discussion in this blog is intended to be general and should not to be construed as specific advice for a case or more importantly for your case. The goal of the blog is to give some information about a topic and to have you call the law firm for specific advise, if I were to take your case. A minor difference in the facts of the case in a fact pattern such as above could completely change the result. Also, this blog is, as the web site suggests, based on the laws of Florida and the laws of any other states or country could vary drastically from Florida.
