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The NHTSA has released the following date per state indicating the number of adults between the ages of 18 to 24 that wear a seat belt (or not). This data reveals the number of fatalities and how many of those did not wear a seat belt. See their statistical chart here. From the insurance perspective, not wearing you seat belt can increase the cost of you insurance. If you get a seat belt ticket, your insurance company will know what to do, raise your payment. But, the issue of seat belts does not stop simply at the “ticket” stage.
In a bodily injury claim, the failure to wear a seatbelt when you are in an accident can depreciate the value of you claim. Why? Because not wearing this device can be consider an aggravation of the injury you suffered. The theory is that if you would be wearing the seat belt, the accident would have cause X injury. Since you did not wear a seatbelt at the time of impact, the accident cause X + Y injury. The insurance company will only try to pay you for X and forget about Y.
This is not true in all the United States. Wyoming has been the leading state in allowing insurance companies to “deduct” bodily injury settlements due to the failure of people to wear a seat belt. Insurance companies are lobbying hard to get this laws pass in all states so they can save more money when settling injury claims.
But aside money, insurance, and settlements, seatbelts safe lives. The debate is that the government should not tell you what to do. There is a very strong resistance against wearing these devices. The statistics however strongly suggest that wearing one can save your life.
Our suggestion is to go ahead and buckle up! If you do, then you won’t get a ticket and your bodily injury claim will be worth more!
If you do not wear a seat belt and you get in an accident, you will get a ticket. The most expensive ticket is for going over the speed limit. Check out this video.
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