How Does Wearing Your Seat Belt Affect Your Claim?

Wearing your seat belt while you are in the car is like the golden rule of driving. It is the first thing you learn to do when you are learning to drive. Whenever you get into a car, whether you are driving or not, the first thing you should do is put your seatbelt on. It will highly decrease your chances of getting injured if you were to get into an accident while driving. If someone was not wearing their seat belt, it can drastically change their claim with the insurance company. Although it is not an automatic cancelation of a claim, it can devalue or decrease the amount that could have been given to you by the insurance company. So, you should not only wear your seat belt for safety reasons, but for what could happen if you were to get into an accident as well.

If you do not have your seat belt on while driving and you got into an accident, it does not diminish your chances of being able to file an insurance claim. If you get into an accident and it is another driver’s fault and your seat belt was not on, that does not change the claim because it did not prevent the accident from happening either way. Nothing would have changed if you would have had your seat belt on. On the other hand, even if the accident was not your fault, if you did not have your seat belt on and you were injured, then it could decrease your compensation. Your injuries would be evaluated and if it is determined that the seat belt could have decreases the severity or prevented the injury all together, then there is a high chance that your compensation will be lower than it would have.

According to the CDC, each driver and front seat passengers are required to wear a seat belt at all times in Kentucky. Also in the state of Kentucky, the seat belt laws are primary. What this means is that it is allowed for police officers to pull a driver over and ticket them strictly for the reason that they do not have their seat belt on. If the laws are secondary, it only allows the officer to ticket if they had pulled them over for another reason. Each passenger over the age of seven is required to have the seat belt on, while children ages six and under, under 50 inches tall are required to be in car seats. 

If you or someone you know was involved in a car accident, it is important that you reach out to an experienced attorney to discuss your case. You should be sure to take a note of whether or not you were wearing your seat belt as well as if you know if the other party involved was or was not wearing theirs. It can be a drastic difference within your claim and the value attached to it.