Hi, Im Matthew Mobilio founder of Mobilio Law.  In this video im going to talk a little bit about how failing to wear your seat belt should not impact your personal injury claim arising from a motor vehicle accident.

First, this video and blog should in no way be construed to suggest that you should not wear your seatbelt.  Study after study has proven that seatbelts reduce the risk of death in car accidents.  This video is merely intended to highlight the law of Pennsylvania regarding seatbelt usage relative to civil lawsuits.

Now, lets discuss the actual law.  Someone is involved in a car accident and is injured.  The police report notes that the individual was not wearing their seatbelt when the incident occurred.  An injury claim is made to the negligent party’s insurance company and the insurance company denies the full value of the claim arguing that had the innocent driver been wearing their seatbelt the resulting injuries would have been lesser or not have occurred at all.   Seems like a no-brainer right?  Wrong.

In Pennsylvania, evidence of an injured person’s failure to wear a seatbelt is inadmissible for ANY purpose in a personal injury lawsuit.  So while the insurance company is free to argue what they wish regarding the failure to use a seatbelt, the argument will hold no weight whatsoever in a court of law.

The same is true for a failure to properly secure children in a motor vehicle.  Evidence of such simply cannot be introduced to a jury in making a determination as to fault or resulting injuries.

If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, contact me today for a free no obligation case evaluation.