Please accept this question and response from the accident lawyer from Boca Raton (injury lawyer Fort lauderdale, accident attorney Hallandale, injury attorney Hollywood, accident lawyer Pembroke Pines, injury attorney Miramar, accident lawyer Weston).
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 seatbelt 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 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.
In sum, not wearing a seatbelt can impact your personal injury case. To the extent that a jury finds that you are comparatively at fault for not wearing your seatbelt, they can reduce your damages by assigning you a percentage of fault and your damages would be reduced accordingly.
Drucker Law Offices helps clients who are injured in car accidents and if you were injured in an accident, whether you were wearing your seatbelt or not, the law firm of Drucker Law Offices will gladly help you by advocating for you. Please call Drucker Law Offices for a free consultation at 561-483-9199 (Boca Raton Main office) or 954-755-2120 (Coral Springs satellite office) or 305-981-1561 (Miami satellite office).
Every case is unique and should be judged based on the specific facts of the case. The advice in this blog is intended to be general and should not to be construed as specific advice for a case or your case. A minor difference in the facts of the case in a fact pattern such as above could change the result. Also, this blog is, as the web site suggests, based on Florida law and the laws of any other states could vary from Florida.
