If you pursue a personal injury claim after a car accident in Florida, you may wonder if not wearing a seat belt could be used against you. The answer is yes.
Florida law requires everyone in a vehicle to wear a seat belt, including drivers, passengers and minors. This is a requirement no matter anyone’s age or location in the vehicle. A traffic violation for not wearing a seat belt carries a potential fine of up to $500, demonstrating how seriously Florida lawmakers take not wearing a seat belt.
Although not wearing a seat belt may seem minor, especially if you believe the accident was the other driver’s fault, evidence that you were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident can have a major impact on your case. Additionally, the other driver could even use you not wearing a seat belt to shift some blame for the accident to you.
Florida’s negligence law
Recovering compensation after a car accident requires proving the other driver was negligent. This means establishing they breached their legal duty to drive safely and reasonably and that breach caused your car accident.
Florida uses a modified comparative negligence standard when allocating fault in car accident cases. Each driver’s level of fault is examined and a percentage of fault is assigned to each driver.
Compensation is then ordered based on fault percentage. For example, if you request $100,000 in damages and are found to be 20% at fault, your payout will be $80,000. Additionally, under modified comparative negligence, if you are found to be more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover any damages at all.
There is a strong chance that not wearing a seat belt will be viewed as negligent by a judge or jury. The percentage of negligent depends on the specific circumstances of the case, but if the evidence shows you chose to not wear a seat belt, you should expect to be found partially to blame for the accident.
Protecting your right to compensation
However, not wearing a seat belt when involved in a car accident does usually not mean that all hope is lost. There are strategies that can be used to achieve the best possible outcome in your case.
Even if you were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, there may be ways to show that most of your injuries were caused by the other driver and not from your lack of seat belt usage.
Seat belts play a crucial role in preventing serious injuries in a car accident and save lives. Wearing a seat belt protects you and your loved ones when traveling and reduces the chance of serious injuries or death in case of a crash.
You should always wear a seat belt and require everyone else in your vehicle to do so. If you are in a car accident, your seat belt usage can reduce your chance of sustaining major injuries and increase your chance of a favorable recovery if you pursue a personal injury claim.