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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.