Yes, you can still recover compensation for your car accident injuries, in Oregon, if you were not wearing your seatbelt. Your damages may be reduced but cannot be reduced by more than five percent. Insurance company representatives may try to convince you otherwise. Don’t fall for their tricks. Talk to an experienced motor vehicle accident attorney about your right to compensation today.
Seat Belt Defense
The “seat belt defense” is a tactic used by insurance companies to try to get out of paying for injuries. Oregon only allows evidence of seat belt nonuse to be used in a car accident lawsuit for the purpose of reducing damages and puts a cap of five percent on that reduction.
Each state is different, and some states are not as favorable to car accident victims. In some states, it is used to significantly reduce car accident victims’ damages. However, many states see the unfairness using the seat belt defense to let the at-fault driver off the hook for their negligence and 26 states have banned the seat belt defense entirely.
If you have been injured in an auto accident that was not your fault, you deserve full and fair compensation whether you were wearing a seat belt or not. To learn more about whether seatbelt non-use will affect your case, please search our directory for an experienced traffic accident attorney in your area today.
