Three People Ejected from Vehicle in Jacksonville, Florida Accident, None Wearing Seat Belts
January 1, 2010 – 5:00 amA single car accident on Edgewood Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida resulted in three people being ejected from the vehicle, including a baby, according to an article on News4Jax.com. One of the people died and the other two were seriously injured. The police indicated that none of the vehicle occupants were wearing seat belts or child restraints.
In a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit resulting from a serious traffic accident like this, a lot of time and resources will go into attributing blame for the crash and the resulting injuries and death. When a person injured or killed in a traffic crash is not wearing a seat belt, the insurance company lawyers will always argue that the damages recoverable in the lawsuit should be significantly reduced due to the injured party’s negligence in failing to wear a seat belt. They will hire an expert to say that if the person had been wearing the seat belt, they either would not have been injured at all or would have been injured much less severely. Personal injury/wrongful death lawyers for the plaintiff can also hire an expert to show that wearing a seat belt would not have made a major difference in the crash, but the issue can become an obstacle to a full recovery.
Keep in mind that the law requires all front seat occupants to wear a seat belt. Additionally, all occupants under 18 must wear a seat belt, or be secured in a child restraint, no matter where they are in the vehicle. However, even if the law does not require adults in the back seat to wear a seat belt, if an adult in the back seat does not wear a seat belt and gets injured or killed in an accident, the insurance company for the other driver will argue that his/her damages should be reduced due to the negligent failure to wear a seat belt. The safer course of action is for everyone to wear a seat belt at all times in any vehicle.
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