Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 9/27/83; site hplabsc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!hplabsc!plaskon From: plaskon@hplabsc.UUCP (Dawn Plaskon) Newsgroups: net.followup Subject: Re: mandatory seatbelt laws Message-ID: <1656@hplabsc.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-Feb-84 17:02:57 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsc.1656 Posted: Thu Feb 9 17:02:57 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Feb-84 09:29:17 EST References: <800@qubix.UUCP> <823@hao.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA Lines: 30 The judgement of whether a driver/passenger had been wearing their seat belt during an accident would come from the police report filed at the time of the accident. This is very easy to judge. 1) They scrape you off the pavement. A check of your vehicle shows no damage to the seat belts. You weren't wearing them, hence you are responsible for at least some portion of your injury. 2) You are unfastened from your seat belt and removed from the car. Or you simply unfasten and remove yourself. It is unlikely that an unfastened driver/passenger would be able to remove themselves after an accident. If they could, it is unlikely that they are badly injured. An alternative is to stay buckled in till the police arrive and can verify that you are buckled in. 3) You are scraped off the pavement and a check of the vehicle shows that the seat belt has been rended from its fastenings. Obviously, you were wearing it and faulty materials are responsible for your not being safely tucked into the vehicle. A law suit against the seat belt maker here. (Ah, well, any excuse to sue). Of course, there is no way to avoid the attempts of the unscrupulous to defraud anyone they can, but I agree that limiting the insurance restitution given to those people not wearing seat belts in an accident puts the onus of their actions onto themselves. By the way, there are people who have made a science of studying traffic accidents and can tell from looking at the vehicles, tire marks, and locations who hit who, and how fast they were going at the time and from which directions. Impressive, ain't it.