We all know the saying “seatbelts save lives.” Indeed, over the last 10-15 years, the use of seatbelts is certainly prevalent. There are numerous cases, however, that we have seen that involve people who have failed to wear a seatbelt in a motor vehicle accident. Sometimes the failure to wear a seatbelt results in more serious injury, for example if someone is ejected from the vehicle or if their body hits the dashboard or other part of the vehicle.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada has placed a cap or upper limit for the reduction of a plaintiff’s damages in a personal injury lawsuit for failure to wear a seatbelt. In the decision of Fulsang v. Snushall, the Supreme Court of Canada has indicated that a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit who has failed to wear a seatbelt will normally only lose between 5 to 10% of their damages. The Court also placed the maximum reduction at 25%. This means that even if you did not wear a seatbelt and were injured in an automobile accident that you still have a viable claim that can only be reduced by a maximum of 25%.
We are always on top of the law and ensure that our clients maximize their settlements. We recommend speaking to a personal injury lawyer if you have been involved in an accident.
At Himelfarb Proszanski, we build winning cases. That’s the HimPro Advantage™.
