Recently, it became a primary violation in Florida for a driver to not wear a seatbelt. This means that a driver can be pulled over for that reason alone. Previously, a driver could only be cited for not wearing a seatbelt if he or she was stopped for another offense.
Since this change in the law, the number of tickets written in both Jacksonville and Northeast Florida has greatly increased. In Jacksonville, the number of tickets issued for failing to wear a seatbelt by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office went up 31% in July compared to June. In Northeast Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol wrote 60% more tickets in that same time frame.
As Jacksonville injury lawyers, we see many unfortunate accidents where people not wearing seatbelts suffered serious personal injuries in a car accident or truck accident. Often, we see collisions with multiple people involved where all of the occupants wearing seatbelts suffered little or no injury yet a person who was not seatbelted suffered a very serious injury or death. Our experience is that seatbelts truly do save lives.
If you would like to speak with one of our Jacksonville personal injury lawyers, please contact us here for a free consultation.