Mike Hancock is the founder of Hancock Injury Attorneys, a former insurance defense attorney, and an AV-Preeminent–rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, with over 35 years of experience practicing personal injury law.
Yes. You can still recover damages you sustained in a car crash even if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the car accident. But you will need legal guidance from an experienced Tampa car accident lawyer who can defend against the seatbelt defense, which the other party will surely raise to reduce the amount of damages they must pay you.
What Is The Seatbelt Law In Florida?
Section 316.614 of the Florida Statutes covers safety belt, also referred to as seatbelt, law in Florida.
Under Section 316.614 of the Florida Statutes, also known as the Florida Safety Belt Law, drivers, front-seat passengers, and passengers under the age of 18 are required to wear a seatbelt while traveling in a motor vehicle.
Understanding Florida's seatbelt requirements is important not only for avoiding traffic citations but also because failing to wear a seatbelt may affect your personal injury claim if you are involved in a car accident.
The Florida Department of Highway and Motor Vehicles has an entire page on its website dedicated to vehicle safety, which you can visit here: https://www.flhsmv.gov/safety-center/vehicle-safety/.
Under the Florida Statutes, Section 316.614, the Florida Safety Belt Law, also referred to as the seatbelt law, applies to certain motor vehicles, including motor vehicles operating on Florida roads, streets, and highways, but does not cover school buses, buses used to transport people for compensation, farm tractors or implements of husbandry, trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating over 26,000 pounds, or motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, and electric bicycles.
Drivers covered under Section 316.614 of the Florida Statutes must wear a seatbelt while driving, regardless of the distance of their trip. The Florida seatbelt law also requires:
- All front-seat passengers must wear seatbelts.
- All passengers below 18 years old must be restrained in federally approved child car seats or wear seatbelts.
It is important to note that the driver is legally required to buckle a child between three and five years old in a car seat or seatbelt. All children below three years old must be restrained in a car seat at all times.
The seatbelt law does not apply to drivers and passengers in certain motor vehicles and under certain circumstances:
- Farm equipment operators
- Passengers in buses utilized for transporting people for compensation
- Occupants of trucks weighing over 26,000 pounds
- Passengers of new school buses bought before December 2000
- People with doctor-certified medical conditions that make wearing a seatbelt dangerous or inappropriate. Make sure to keep a copy of the doctor’s certificate with the individual when they are driving or being driven.
- Employees of newspaper delivery services
In addition, children between four and five years old can only utilize a seatbelt without a booster seat when the driver isn’t the child’s immediate family member, and the child is being driven in an emergency or as a favor.
What Exactly Is The Seatbelt Defense?
Florida now follows a modified comparative negligence rule, which means your ability to recover compensation depends on your percentage of fault in an accident.
Under this modified comparative negligence state, you can recover damages only if you are 50% or less at fault for the accident, but if you are found to be 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering any compensation.
In the modified comparative negligence system, fault is expressed as a percentage. That percentage directly impacts how much compensation you can receive
When establishing negligence in motor vehicle accidents, Florida follows a modified comparative negligence rule. This means that if you were partly at fault for the car crash, the compensation you can recover would be impacted by the amount you are found to be at fault in the crash.
So if you weren’t wearing a seatbelt during the crash, the other party and their insurance provider would likely raise your non-compliance with the law as a reason for reducing the compensation you are entitled to receive from them.
For instance, if your damages amount to $150,000, but you were found to be 15% at fault for the crash for your failure to wear a seatbelt, your compensation will be reduced to $127,500.
Seek Legal Guidance From Experienced Tampa Car Accident Attorneys
To learn more about your case and your legal options moving forward if you’ve suffered injuries in a car crash and you were not wearing a seatbelt, contact Hancock Injury Attorneys today.
Florida’s shift to a modified comparative negligence system has raised the stakes for injury victims, including those who were not wearing a seatbelt during a car accident. Now more than ever, proving that you are 50% or less at fault is essential to recovering compensation, and whether or not you were wearing a seatbelt in the crash may have an impact.
If you’ve been injured, taking the right steps early, seeking medical care, preserving evidence, and consulting with an experienced attorney from our firm can make all the difference in the outcome of your case.
At Hancock Injury Attorneys, we understand how these legal changes impact your claim and are here to help you navigate the process with confidence. Call our office at 813-915-1110 to set up a free case evaluation.