Can an Insurance Company Blame You for Not Wearing a Seat Belt?

You are stopped at a red light when another driver hits you from behind. Or maybe someone runs a stop sign and crashes into the side of your vehicle. The other driver clearly caused the accident.

There is just one problem: you were not wearing your seat belt.

When the insurance company discovers this, you may start hearing questions about whether your injuries would have been less serious if you had been buckled up. You might even be told that your failure to wear a seat belt makes you partly responsible for what happened.

In Missouri, the law draws an important distinction between causing an accident and contributing to your injuries.

Generally, failing to wear a seat belt does not make you responsible for causing the collision. Missouri law specifically says that failure to wear a seat belt in violation of the state’s seat belt law cannot be considered evidence of comparative negligence in a motor vehicle accident claim.

There are limited circumstances, however, in which the defense can introduce evidence that you were not wearing a seat belt in an effort to reduce your damages.

Even then, Missouri law places significant restrictions on how that argument can be used.

If you were injured in a Missouri car accident while not wearing a seat belt, understanding these rules can help you separate what the insurance company may claim from what Missouri law actually allows.

Missouri Law Requires Certain Drivers and Passengers to Wear Seat Belts

Missouri’s seat belt requirements are found in Section 307.178 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri.

Among other requirements, the statute generally requires drivers and front-seat passengers of qualifying passenger cars to wear properly adjusted and fastened seat belts. There are certain exceptions, including some medical and work-related situations. Missouri also has separate requirements concerning children and vehicle restraints.

The fact that Missouri law requires seat belt use does not mean an insurance company can automatically treat an unbelted accident victim as partly responsible for a crash. That distinction is critical.

Section 307.178 specifically provides that failure to wear a safety belt in violation of the statute cannot be considered evidence of comparative negligence in an action seeking damages arising from the operation of a motor vehicle.

So, if another driver causes an accident because he was texting, speeding, following too closely, or ignoring a traffic signal, the fact that you were not wearing a seat belt does not suddenly mean you helped cause that driver to crash into you.

Not Wearing a Seat Belt Did Not Cause the Accident

This is perhaps the easiest way to understand the issue.

Imagine you are driving through an intersection with a green light. Another driver runs the red light and strikes the driver’s side of your vehicle. Whether you were wearing your seat belt had nothing to do with the other driver’s decision to run the red light.

The same principle applies in many other situations.

Your seat belt did not cause someone to rear-end you.

It did not make a distracted driver drift into your lane.

It did not cause a drunk driver to cross the center line.

It did not cause a speeding driver to lose control.

Missouri’s seat belt statute recognizes this distinction by preventing the failure to wear a seat belt from being treated as comparative negligence in an ordinary motor vehicle accident case. Where the issue can become more complicated is when the insurance company argues that wearing a seat belt would have reduced the severity of your injuries. That is a different argument.

The Insurance Company Needs Expert Evidence

Missouri law does not permit the defense to rely only on speculation about what a seat belt might have done.

Before evidence of the failure to wear a seat belt can be used to mitigate damages under Section 307.178, the party seeking to introduce that evidence must first present expert evidence proving that the failure contributed to the plaintiff’s claimed injuries.

This can become an important issue in a serious injury case.

Consider a rollover accident where an occupant suffers several different injuries. Some injuries might arguably have been affected by seat belt use while others may have resulted from vehicle deformation, broken glass, intrusion into the passenger compartment, or other forces involved in the crash.

The question is not simply whether the person was wearing a seat belt. The relevant question is whether the failure to wear one actually contributed to the injuries for which compensation is being sought.

That can require an analysis of the crash, the occupant’s movement inside the vehicle, medical evidence, the location and nature of the injuries, and other circumstances. An insurance adjuster’s assumption is not the same thing as expert evidence.

Can Not Wearing a Seat Belt Reduce My Compensation in Missouri?

Potentially, but only in limited circumstances.

Missouri law allows evidence of a plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt to be admitted for the purpose of mitigating damages if certain legal requirements are satisfied.

The insurance company cannot simply say:

“You weren’t wearing your seat belt, so we’re reducing your claim.”

The party trying to introduce the seat belt evidence must first provide expert evidence establishing that the failure to wear a seat belt contributed to the injuries being claimed. That requirement matters.

It is not enough for an insurance adjuster to assume that every injury would have been prevented by a seat belt. Different collisions produce different forces, and different injuries occur in different ways. An expert would need to connect the failure to wear a seat belt to the injuries at issue.

If the evidence supports that conclusion, the person deciding the case may find that the failure to wear the seat belt contributed to the injuries. But Missouri law puts a very significant limit on the resulting reduction.

Missouri’s Seat Belt Reduction Is Capped at 1%

Under Section 307.178, if the required evidence supports a finding that the plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt contributed to the injuries, the plaintiff’s recovery can be reduced by no more than 1% of the damages awarded after reductions for comparative negligence.

That 1% cap is important because an insurance company’s negotiating position may sound much more dramatic than what the statute actually provides.

Suppose, for example, that an injured person is awarded $100,000 in damages and there are no other reductions for comparative negligence. If the legal requirements for Missouri’s seat belt mitigation provision are satisfied, the reduction based on failure to wear the seat belt cannot exceed 1% under the statute.

One percent of $100,000 is $1,000.

That is very different from an insurance company claiming that the injured person should lose 20%, 30%, or half of the claim simply because he or she was not buckled up. The actual calculation in a particular case will depend on the facts, damages, other findings of fault, and the applicable law. Still, the statutory cap is an important protection for Missouri accident victims.

Does the 1% Rule Apply to Every Case Involving a Seat Belt?

No. Section 307.178 contains an important exception involving certain claims arising out of the design, construction, manufacture, distribution, or sale of a motor vehicle that was factory-equipped with a safety belt.

In those types of cases, the statute provides different rules concerning the admissibility of seat belt evidence, including its potential use concerning comparative negligence or fault, causation, the absence of a defect or hazard, and mitigation of damages.

Those cases can involve product liability issues and are different from the typical personal injury claim against another driver who caused a crash.

For an ordinary Missouri car accident claim based on another motorist’s negligent driving, the rules discussed above are generally the more relevant ones.

What If the Police Report Says I Wasn’t Wearing a Seat Belt?

A car accident police report may contain information about seat belt use. An officer might note that a driver or passenger was unrestrained. There could also be statements from people involved in the collision or observations made by emergency personnel.

Seeing “seat belt not used” on an accident report can understandably worry an injured person. It does not automatically destroy your personal injury claim.

The fact that the police report indicates you were not wearing a seat belt does not establish that your failure to wear one caused the accident. It also does not, by itself, establish the expert evidence required by Missouri law to prove that the lack of a seat belt contributed to your injuries.

The insurance company still has to deal with the legal requirements governing how seat belt evidence can be used.

What If I Was Partly Responsible for the Accident Too?

Seat belt use and fault for the collision are separate issues. Suppose another driver caused most of an accident, but there is also evidence that you contributed to the collision itself.

Perhaps both vehicles changed lanes at approximately the same time, or there is a dispute over whether one driver was speeding. Those facts concern Missouri’s comparative fault for causing the collision.

The seat belt question concerns something different.

Missouri’s statute states that the seat belt reduction, when applicable, is calculated after reductions for comparative negligence. The additional reduction for failure to wear a seat belt is then limited to no more than 1% of the damages remaining. This is another reason not to allow an insurer to blur the two issues together.

An argument that you contributed to causing the crash is different from an argument that your failure to wear a seat belt contributed to a particular injury.

Can the Insurance Adjuster Still Bring Up the Seat Belt During Your Claim?

Yes. The rules governing what can ultimately be admitted and how damages can be reduced do not prevent an insurance company from investigating the circumstances of your accident.

An adjuster may ask whether you were wearing a seat belt. The insurer may review the police report, photographs, medical records, witness statements, and other available evidence.

That does not mean you should assume the insurance company’s interpretation of the law is correct.

Insurance claims are negotiations before they become trials. An insurer may raise a number of issues when evaluating a claim, including the cause of the crash, the severity of injuries, medical treatment, prior medical conditions, missed work, and whether all of the treatment being claimed was related to the collision. Seat belt use may become another issue the insurer examines.

The important question is what effect that issue can legally have on your claim.

What If the Insurance Company Says My Injuries Would Have Been Prevented?

Statements like this should be examined carefully. An adjuster might tell you that a concussion, broken bone, back injury, facial injury, or other condition would not have occurred if you had been wearing a seat belt. That is a medical and accident-related causation issue, not something that should necessarily be accepted because an insurance adjuster says it.

Missouri’s statute specifically requires expert evidence before failure to wear a seat belt can be used to mitigate damages. There may also be questions about which injuries were allegedly worsened by the lack of a seat belt.

For example, if an accident causes injuries to several different parts of the body, it does not necessarily follow that the lack of a seat belt contributed equally to every injury. The specific facts matter.

Should I Admit to the Insurance Company That I Wasn’t Wearing a Seat Belt?

You should never lie about whether you were wearing a seat belt. Giving false information can create credibility problems and potentially make an already complicated claim much harder.

That does not mean you need to speculate about medical questions or agree with an adjuster’s conclusions. There is a difference between saying, “I was not wearing my seat belt,” and agreeing with the statement, “My injuries happened because I wasn’t wearing my seat belt.”

The first is a factual statement about what happened.

The second is a conclusion about injury causation.

If you are unsure how to handle questions from the other driver’s insurance company, particularly after a serious accident, consider speaking with a personal injury attorney before providing a detailed recorded statement.

What If I Don’t Remember Whether or Not I Was Wearing a Seat Belt?

Serious accidents can happen incredibly fast. A person who suffers a concussion, loses consciousness, is taken away by ambulance, or experiences significant trauma may not remember every detail immediately before the collision. If you genuinely do not remember whether you were wearing a seat belt, say that you do not remember.

Do not guess.

There may be other evidence concerning seat belt use, and making a confident statement about something you cannot actually recall can create unnecessary credibility problems later. The same advice applies to other details about an accident. Tell the truth about what you know, and do not fill gaps in your memory simply because someone wants an immediate answer.

Don’t Assume You Have Lost Your Case Because You Weren’t Buckled Up

People sometimes avoid contacting a lawyer because they believe they made a mistake that prevents them from recovering anything.

Not wearing a seat belt can be one of those mistakes. You might know that you should have been buckled up. You may even regret that you weren’t.

But that does not change who caused the accident.

Missouri law specifically prevents failure to wear a seat belt from being used as evidence of comparative negligence in an ordinary motor vehicle accident claim. Under the circumstances where seat belt evidence can be used to mitigate damages, the defense must satisfy the expert evidence requirement, and the resulting reduction is capped at 1% under Section 307.178.

That is considerably different from losing your entire claim.

Talk to a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer About Your Claim

If another driver caused your accident, do not assume you are unable to recover compensation simply because you were not wearing a seat belt. The insurance company may ask about it. The adjuster may argue that being unrestrained made your injuries worse. Depending on the circumstances, seat belt use may become an issue in the case.

But Missouri law places clear limits on how that evidence can be used in an ordinary motor vehicle accident claim.

The St. Louis car accident attorneys at Ortwerth Law, we help people injured in car accidents in St. Louis and throughout Missouri understand their rights and deal with insurance companies after serious crashes.

If an insurer is trying to reduce or deny your injury claim because you were not wearing a seat belt, speaking with a Missouri personal injury attorney can help you understand what that argument actually means for your case and whether the insurance company’s position is supported by Missouri law.