How times have changed.
I remember as a boy riding in my father’s car. Not only were the cars humongous back then, nobody wore seatbelts. As kids we would jump around that car like animals. Thank god we never had a serious accident.
Of course today wearing seatbelts in a car while driving is mandatory. So what happens if you are not wearing a seatbelt while in a car and there is an accident. Let’s say another car hits your car and the accident is the fault of the other driver. And because you are not wearing a seat belt your shoulder hits the inside of the car door and your shoulder is seriously injured.
If you were wearing the seatbelt then the injury would not have happened or if you were injured then it would have been much less serious. The question then becomes can you sue for damages? Will you win? After all you weren’t wearing your seatbelt and if you had been you would not have been injured or would have suffered a much less serious injury.
Without a doubt the defending insurance company will argue that had you been wearing your seatbelt like you were suppose to you wouldn’t have been injured and therefore they should pay nothing.
That is a very strong argument. Unfortunately for the defence, and fortunately for you, this argument is never completely successful. At the end of the day you would not have been injured at all if the other driver had not been at fault in the accident. If the other driver had not been negligent then there would not have been an accident.
What usually happens in these types of cases is that your damages would get reduced for contributory negligence. So instead of recovering 100 % of your damages you might only recover 75%. Your damages would not be reduced to zero since ultimately the other driver was at fault.
Until next time. Be well.