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Wear Your Seatbelt in Louisiana Please

Motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of death of those aged between 1-54 according to the CDC. A total of 21,022 passenger vehicle occupants died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2014. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seatbelts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about half. Furthermore, seat belts saved 12,802 lives in 2014.

Wearing a seatbelt in Louisiana is the law. See La. R.S. 32:295.1. Drivers can be ticketed for not wearing seatbelts. Drivers in Orleans Parish are fined $70.00 for a first offense no seat belt ticket.

As I have stated in a previous article, Louisiana is a comparative fault state. However, in a personal injury case after a car accident, the defense cannot use an accident victim’s failure to wear a seatbelt to show comparative fault or failure to mitigate damages. See La. R.S. 32:295.1(E).

But the prohibition of using a seatbelt infraction against an accident victim in a civil suit should not deter drivers and passengers from wearing their seatbelts. Seatbelts save lives. Some people do not like wearing them because they find them uncomfortable and are not used to wearing them. Get over it! I would rather be slightly uncomfortable on the way to Winn Dixie, than ejected from my vehicle onto Airline Highway after a crash.

Be smart. Be Safe. Wear your seatbelt.

If you have suffered an injury from an accident, contact Law Office of Donald D’Aunoy Jr., LLC today for a FREE consultation: 1000 Veterans Blvd #203, Metairie, LA 70005, Phone: 504-508-6414. Speak directly with an attorney. Attorney Donald D’Aunoy Jr. offers FREE house calls to personal injury clients throughout southeast Louisiana, including Algiers, Amite, Avondale, Barataria, Belle Chasse, Bogalusa, Boutte, Bridge City, Chalmette, Covington, Crown Point, Cut Off, Destrehan, Edgard, Franklinton, Galliano, Gretna, Hammond, Harahan, Harvey, Houma, Jefferson, Kenner, Lafitte, Laplace, Lacombe, Larose, Luling, Lutcher, Madisonville, Mandeville, Marrero, Marrero, Morgan City, Montegut, New Orleans, Nine Mile Point, Norco, Patterson, Pearl River, Ponchatoula, Prairieville, Raceland, River Ridge, Slidell, St. Rose, Thibodaux, Tickfaw, Waggaman, Westwego. Mr. D’Aunoy is well reviewed on sites such as Avvo and Facebook.

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