Seat Belt Defense
Personal Injury Attorney Services
Seat Belt Defense
Serving South Florida From North Miami Since 1988
Florida law recognizes “the seat belt defense” in motor vehicle accident cases. This means that the defendant in a motor vehicle accident WILL NOT be liable for injuries resulting from your failure to use an operational seat belt.
In these cases, the factual issue becomes whether the injuries resulted from the crash itself, or from the injured person’s failure to buckle up. Experts in forensic medicine, accident reconstruction and bio-mechanics are frequently called upon to analyze this issue, battling over the extent to which the injured party’s recovery should be reduced for not buckling up.
So what if you were injured in a car crash, while not wearing your seat belt? You may be tempted to cover it up–either by lying about it, or not disclosing it to your attorney. Doing so may set yourself up for a double penalty–one for not wearing your seatbelt, and two, for lying to a jury, a wrong that is rarely if ever forgiven.
Your interests will always be better served by confiding in you attorney. Armed with the truth, a good attorney may be able to help contain the damage that would other cause a steeper reduction in your potential recovery.
35+ Years Of Experience
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Past Verdicts – Car Accidents
SIX-FIGURE SETTLEMENT FOR UNBELTED DRIVER EJECTED IN CRASH WITH DUI
Our client, a kind and gentle man from Peru, was working the night shift operating a Miami airport shuttle bus when he was hit broadside by a drunk driver blowing a red light at high speed. The impact sent our client through the open driver’s side window onto the pavement 30 feet away. He lost consciousness, and was left with multiple traumatic injuries including orthopedic fractures and a closed head injury with post concussion syndrome.
It was clear that the crash was entirely the other driver’s fault. But was my client wearing his seat belt and shoulder harness at the time? This was a critical issue. Under law, the seat belt defense provides that one’s damages should be reduced to the extent that the injuries resulted from the failure to wear an operative seat belt. In this case, my client could not definitively say whether or not he was belted. There was memory loss from the head trauma. But forensically, if he was belted, he would not and could not have been ejected.
Jury verdicts reducing damage awards because of the seat belt defense swing wildly. Sometimes an injured plaintiff’s recovery can be reduced by as little as 20%, and sometimes as much as 60% or more.
Weighing risk versus reward, my client gratefully accepted a confidential settlement in the mid-six figure range, on of the richest on record for similar cases, and today. I am glad to report, he and his family enjoy a measure of peace to compensate for his unfortunate injuries.
Please buckle up.
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