What if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt?
Not wearing a seat belt doesn't prevent recovery. It can be raised as comparative negligence and reduce it.
How it works. The defense must show that the failure to use an available seat belt was unreasonable and that it contributed to the injuries — meaning the injuries would have been less severe with one. That's an evidentiary showing, usually requiring expert testimony, not an assumption.
Why it matters more now. Any percentage assigned to you counts toward the greater-than-50-percent bar. In a case where fault is otherwise close, a seat belt allocation can push a claimant over the line and eliminate the claim entirely. That interaction is new, and it's significant.
What limits it. Injuries a seat belt wouldn't have prevented aren't affected. Where the vehicle's belt was defective or unavailable, that's a different situation.
It reduces rather than bars — but that reduction now counts toward a cliff. ---
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