What Happens If You Weren’t Wearing a Seatbelt?

What Happens If You Weren’t Wearing a Seatbelt?

Seatbelt laws are present in every state, but still, some people forget to buckle up. Usually, people not wearing a seatbelt fit into one of two groups. They either drive aggressively or believe that they drive so well that they don’t need a seatbelt. Or, they simply forgot that one time, a solid habit that just fell to the wayside that one time.

Unfortunately, even if you regularly wear a seatbelt and then forgot the one time you got into a car accident, it may spell trouble. Your crash and the compensation you can receive for your injuries largely depends on you following basic traffic laws, and that includes wearing your seatbelts at all time.

Stats on Seatbelt Safety

We all like to believe that everyone wears a seatbelt all of the time. But anyone who has gotten into the car a bit distracted knows how easy it is to forget to buckle up. If you looked at your phone for a minute to set the GPS directions or had to put kids into the backseat, you might not even notice that you just sat down and started driving without putting on your belt.

A Nevada study done in recent years showed that the average usage of seatbelts among adults when driving was 88%, and about 92% of passengers regularly bucked-up. The 92% is excellent, but the 88% is far too low. Many other states are in much better shape when it comes to drivers regularly buckling up.

Perhaps the most startling finding comes from Zero Fatalities Nevada, which identified in 2018 that 45% of individuals involved in fatal accidents weren’t wearing their seatbelt. In short, slightly less than half of the fatality crashes involved someone who wasn’t wearing a basic safety restraint.

Nevada Seatbelt Laws

The laws are pretty simple. You must wear a seatbelt. Additionally, children should always be clipped into the appropriate seat for their weight, height, and age. The best way to protect you and everyone else in your vehicle is to ensure that everyone is wearing their seatbelt. But wearing a seatbelt can also save you a hefty fine.

So wear your seatbelt. That’s the only thing to take away here, if the vehicle has a seatbelt, you must wear it. And, there are only a small handful of vehicles that make it reasonable to not wear a seatbelt. For example, city buses don’t have seatbelts, so it’s not expected of its passengers to wear one. Additionally, some vintage or classic cars were made without seatbelts, and fitting them for seatbelts might bring down the integrity of the vehicle, those cases are usually fine as well but may result in much higher insurance rates.

Will Your Insurance Company Cover You If You Weren’t Wearing Your Safety Restraint?

In some cases, no, they won’t. It always depends on your contract, but many have strict guidelines about not covering damages sustained when the driver was intoxicated, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving recklessly. What they mean is that in these situations, the driver knowingly took greater and unnecessary risks that may have made the damages much more severe than they should have been in a crash.

However, they may choose to cover you as the victim of the crash and then drop your policy. For example, if you got into a wreck that wasn’t your fault and you weren’t wearing your belt, our coverage might seem a bit odd. They may represent your interests in the claim process. They may even payout on a collision policy coverage for whatever the other driver’s insurance policy won’t cover. Then after everything resolves, they may choose to terminate your policy as you failed to follow basic safety expectations.

How Can You Fight for Full Compensation Against This Challenge? – Involve A Henderson Car Accident Lawyer

Even if you weren’t wearing a seatbelt, you might be able to recover partial compensation. Working with a Nevada attorney right in Henderson, you can assess how much of the damage or your injuries came as a result of not wearing a seatbelt. Surely you can’t be held solely responsible for your injuries. Instead, it is merely a small factor and one that the insurance company may or may not give full consideration to when determining their settlement offer.

Help for your car accident can be found at Christian Morris Trial Attorneys. Our supportive personal injury lawyers are empathetic and understanding, which is exactly what you need when you find yourself facing scrutiny for a simple and common mistake. Get help from Christian Morris Trial Attorneys.