Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog
Last night, on Interstate 295 in Jacksonville, an auto accident was caused by a vehicle traveling the wrong way. A young woman appears to have been driving southbound in the northbound lane of I-295 when she collided with a woman driving northbound. How she ended up going the wrong direction is currently unknown.
Unfortunately, the woman driving the wrong direction was not wearing her seat belt and she died from her injuries. While it is uncertain whether a seat belt would have saved the young woman’s life in this situation, sixty-two percent of Florida’s car accident fatalities involved people who were not wearing seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
As Duval County accident attorneys, we review many types of accidents. We often see accidents where there are several occupants in a car with all of them wearing seatbelts except one person. Very commonly the person not wearing a seatbelt is the most seriously injured.
For example, several years ago, we handled a case where three teenagers were driving in a car when the driver accidentally ran a stop sign. Their car collided violently with a van properly driving through the intersection. The driver and passenger, who were both seatbelted, suffered no serious injuries. Sadly, a fifteen year old girl, who was not wearing her seatbelt, was ejected from the car and died from internal injuries.
Of course, wearing a seatbelt is required by Florida law. In addition, if someone else wrecks into you and you are not wearing your seatbelt, the at-fault driver’s insurer will only be obligated to compensate you for the degree of injury you would have suffered if you had been wearing your seatbelt. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, please feel free to contact one of our Jacksonville Injury Lawyers for a free consultation.