If you have been injured in a car accident due to another motorist’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages. However, if you fail to wear your seat belt, it could negatively impact your right to recover compensation. Please continue reading to learn whether you can still sue after a New York car accident if you weren’t wearing a seat belt and how a skilled Bronx Car Accident Lawyer can help protect your rights.
Is Wearing a Seat Belt Required by Law in New York?
In New York, motorists and all passengers of a vehicle are legally required to wear seat belts that are properly adjusted and fastened. This applies to vehicle occupants in the front and back seats. Furthermore, children must be restrained using the correct child passenger safety seat. It’s important to understand that it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that all vehicle occupants who lawfully must wear a seat belt are doing so before operating their motor vehicle. Violating New York’s seat belt law can result in a range of penalties, including fines and demerit points on your driver’s license. However, this failure can also negatively impact your right to recover compensation for your damages after a car accident.
Can I Recover Compensation?
The National Safety Council has established that in the event of a car accident, a seat belt can save lives and reduce the severity of injuries suffered. They can prevent occupants from being ejected and hitting the windshield, dashboard, or steering wheel. As such, your insurance company or that of the other driver may raise your failure to wear a seat belt as a reason to avoid liability for your injuries and damages. The seat belt defense asserts that since you failed to fulfill your responsibility to wear a seatbelt, you share fault for the injuries sustained.
The success of this affirmative defense depends on various factors, including the laws in the state presiding over your case, the circumstances of the accident, the type of injuries endured, and whether or not these injuries would have been avoided had you been wearing a seat belt. The opposing counsel could argue that you failed to mitigate your damages by declining to use an available seat belt. The seat belt defense is applicable if the defendant can prove that you were negligent by failing to wear one and that this contributed to your injuries.
Nevertheless, how much this failure will impact your right to recover will depend on state law. New York uses a pure comparative negligence law, meaning that the court will assign a percentage of fault to each party for the accident. If you are partially to blame for your injuries can still recover compensation, but your award will be reduced in proportion to your degree of fault. This means if the seat belt defense succeeds, the courts will subtract an amount from your award that is equivalent to the percentage of your fault for the accident.
At James Newman, P.C., we are prepared to rebut arguments presented by the defense that would seek to reduce your damages. Contact us today so we can answer your questions and assess whether you have a viable personal injury claim.
