{"id":966,"date":"2020-10-23T18:21:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T18:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/?post_type=faqs&p=966"},"modified":"2024-01-02T19:13:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T01:13:57","slug":"i-was-hurt-in-a-car-accident-and-didnt-have-my-seatbelt-on-now-the-insurance-company-says-im-at-fault-for-not-wearing-a-seatbelt-can-they-use-that-as-evidence","status":"publish","type":"faqs","link":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/faqs\/me-lastime-en-un-accidente-automovilistico-y-no-tenia-puesto-el-cinturon-de-seguridad-ahora-la-compania-de-seguros-dice-que-tengo-la-culpa-de-no-usar-el-cinturon-de-seguridad-pueden-usar-eso-c\/","title":{"rendered":"I was hurt in a car accident and didn’t have my seatbelt on. Now the insurance company says I’m at fault for not wearing a seatbelt. Can they use that as evidence?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The short answer is \u201cYes! Seatbelt use is allowed as evidence of negligence in an auto accident.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas State Laws on Seatbelts and Liability in Auto Accidents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Nabors v. Romero – The Texas Supreme Court Allows Seat Belt Evidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Under Texas Rules of Evidence 402<\/a>, civil courts in Texas allow most relevant evidence to be heard in a lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until February 13, 2015, Texas court rulings stated that a driver\u2019s failure to wear a seat belt could not be admitted as evidence to decide a Texas auto accident lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as part of Texas\u2019 shift to partial fault<\/a> in deciding lawsuits, that rule was overturned by the Texas Supreme Court ruled in Nabors v. Romero<\/em><\/a>. In Nabors v. Romero, the Court ruled that not wearing a seatbelt could be evidence that a driver was careless (negligent<\/em>), and partly at fault.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nabors v. Loera – Failing To Wear a Seat Belt May Mean the Injured Person Receives Nothing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Under Texas law, any money someone receives in a negligence lawsuit is reduced if that person is at fault. So if a driver is 20% at fault and has $1000 in repair costs and medical bills, the driver receives only 80% of that money ($800).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Texas, a driver who is more than 51% percent at fault cannot receive any<\/em> money in a lawsuit for injuries, even if the other driver was also partly at fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in the case of Nabors v. Loera<\/em><\/a>, the Texas Supreme Court followed Nabors v. Romero by allowing evidence that injured passengers had not worn seat belts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court then ruled that not wearing a seat belt was negligent, and because of that carelessness, the injured passengers received no money for the injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have been injured in an Texas auto accident and were not wearing your seatbelt, you need to know your rights. Contact Justinian & Associates for a free and confidential consultation<\/a> with a real personal injury attorney (not a screener). We\u2019ll hear your story, and explain your options under Texas state law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","faq_tax":[4],"class_list":["post-966","faqs","type-faqs","status-publish","hentry","faq_tax-fault"],"acf":[],"x_date":"octubre 23, 2020","x_metadata":{"_yoast_wpseo_primary_faq_tax":"4","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"[]","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"[\"\"]","_trp_translated_slug_es_ES":"me-lastime-en-un-accidente-automovilistico-y-no-tenia-puesto-el-cinturon-de-seguridad-ahora-la-compania-de-seguros-dice-que-tengo-la-culpa-de-no-usar-el-cinturon-de-seguridad-pueden-usar-eso-c","_yoast_wpseo_estimated_reading_time_minutes":"2","_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":"1704244438","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap_rating":"0","_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs\/966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faqs"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faq_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq_tax?post=966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}