Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

My 16 year old son was driving his friends truck with permission. The friend and 2 other people were in the truck. Nobody was wearing seat belts. My son went around a turn in the game reserve, hit some sugar sand, and then hit a tree. The truck is severly damaged and I feel my son is responsible for fixing it. However, if none of the kids were wearing seatbelts, would they be partially responsible for their own injuries?


Asked on 9/21/10, 2:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Leland Garvin Garvin Law Firm

Possibly..

If the injuries to the other kids were made worse by their lack of wearing a seat-belt, then the amount that they would recover should be reduced according to fault that is placed upon them for not wearing their seat belts.

In other words if they flew up and hit the windshield and they wouldn't have if they were wearing a seat-belt then they shouldn't be able to recover for those specific head injuries.

The other thing to remember is that that the vehicle insurance is primary and since your son was a permissive user they other kids would have to go after the insurance on the vehicle.

Hope that helps,

-Leland

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Answered on 9/26/10, 4:31 pm


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