If you weren't wearing your seat belt during the time of your car crash, your claim could be denied or you could lose a significant percentage of your settlement amount depending on who's at fault and the severity of your injuries.
How Will the Insurance Company Know I Wasn't Wearing My Seat Belt?
As police gather information at the scene of the crash, they may directly ask you if you were wearing your seat belt. If you're being treated for your injuries, your doctor may also ask. The insurance company will have access to that recorded information.
Aside from written statements, there are other ways to find out if you were wearing your seat belt, including forensics. The other driver's attorney may hire a traffic safety consultant to obtain physical evidence that you weren't wearing your seat belt, including friction or striation marks on the seat belt mechanism.
Aside from written statements, there are other ways to find out if you were wearing your seat belt, including forensics. The other driver's attorney may hire a traffic safety consultant to obtain physical evidence that you weren't wearing your seat belt, including friction or striation marks on the seat belt mechanism.
Why Would Not Wearing a Seat Belt Affect My Compensation?
The court can reduce the amount of damages you recover in a claim based on the negligence each party contributed to the car crash. This is known as comparative negligence. It could be determined that your crash injuries were a direct result of not wearing your seat belt.
If it can be proven that your injuries had nothing to do with not wearing a seat belt, your compensation might not be affected. But even if you weren't wearing your seat belt and the accident wasn't your fault, you are still entitled to compensation.
If it can be proven that your injuries had nothing to do with not wearing a seat belt, your compensation might not be affected. But even if you weren't wearing your seat belt and the accident wasn't your fault, you are still entitled to compensation.
What Do I Do Now?
Call Wilkes & Mee. We take on the heavy load of dealing with the insurance company while you focus on recovering from your injuries, and we will perform our own investigation to determine the viability of your case and the max compensation you deserve.
Seat belt or not, our Jacksonville car accident lawyers are ready to talk about your case. We know you're in pain and you want life to get back to normal. Call us today, and we will fight for full compensation.