What Should You Know About North Carolina’s Seat Belt Law?
If you are caught not wearing a seat belt in the Raleigh area, you’ll pay a fine and some court costs, but if you are involved in a traffic accident and you are not wearing a seat belt, you may need the sound advice and legal services that a Raleigh personal injury lawyer provides.
The State of North Carolina requires all drivers and their passengers in moving vehicles to wear a seat belt or to ride in a child safety seat. Violators may be stopped and ticketed by law enforcement officers, and you may have to pay a fine and court costs.
However, a fine is not the worst thing that can happen if you do not wear a seat belt on the streets and highways around Raleigh. If you are injured in a traffic accident, and you are not wearing a seat belt, you may not be able to recover compensation for your medical bills and lost wages.
How Are Traffic Accidents Handled in North Carolina?
Unlike most states, North Carolina is a strict contributory negligence state for auto accidents. If the injured victim of a negligent driver is deemed to be even one percent at fault for the accident and injuries, that victim cannot recover damages, even if the other driver is 99 percent at fault.
If you are injured in a traffic crash in the Raleigh area, in order to recover compensation, you and your Raleigh car accident attorney may have to prove that your injuries were caused exclusively and solely – 100 percent – by the other driver’s negligence.
If your own failure to wear a seat belt played any role in causing your injuries, you will not be able to recover compensation in North Carolina. If you are seriously injured, you may have to pay out-of-pocket for your medical bills, and you will not be compensated for any lost wages.
Are There Exceptions to North Carolina’s Seat Belt Law?
In this state, all passengers in both the front and back seats of a moving vehicle must wear seat belts or ride in a child safety seat. However, a law enforcement officer can stop you for a seat belt violation only if that officer sees a driver or a front seat passenger who is unbelted.
State law prohibits the police from stopping a vehicle solely because a back seat passenger is not using a seat belt, but if you are stopped for another reason and an officer sees an unbelted back seat passenger, a citation may be issued. However, you are not required to use a seat belt if you:
- are a letter carrier in a rural location
- are delivering newspapers
- drive a vehicle that is not required by federal law to have seat belts
- have a physical or medical condition that prevents seat belt use
- stop frequently to make deliveries and usually drive at or below 20 mph
- are a passenger in a motor home and you are not in the front seat
- are a passenger in a recycling or garbage truck making collections
- are being transported in the back of a police vehicle
After an Accident Happens, What Should You Do?
If you are injured by a negligent motorist in a traffic accident in the Raleigh area, take these steps to put yourself in the best possible position to prevail with a personal injury claim:
- Summon medical and police assistance immediately. Ask the police officers how you may obtain a copy of their accident report and how soon it will become available.
- Exchange names, contact information, and car insurance details with the other motorist.
- Take photos of the accident, the location, the vehicle damage and license plates, and your own injuries. If there were witnesses at the scene, ask for their names and contact details.
- After you leave the scene, do not speak with the other driver’s lawyer or insurance company. Do not accept any settlement before you have consulted an attorney.
- Copy all of the police, medical, and insurance documents pertinent to the accident, and store those documents securely.
- As soon as possible, contact a Raleigh personal injury lawyer to discuss your options, rights, and the best way to proceed – which may be bringing a personal injury claim.
Do not wait to contact a lawyer. North Carolina’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is three years from the injury date or the date the injury is discovered, but your lawyer should see the evidence at once and speak to the witnesses while their memories are fresh.
What Else Should You Know About Seat Belts and Liability?
The injured victims of negligent motorists are entitled by North Carolina law to compensation for their pending and projected medical expenses, lost wages and future lost wages, personal suffering and pain, and related damages.
North Carolina’s seat belt rules are easy to follow. Do not let your failure to wear a seat belt be the reason you receive a ticket or the reason you cannot recover compensation if a negligent driver injures you.
Most personal injury cases are settled out-of-court. You may not even be required to make a court appearance. When an injury claim can’t be settled privately, a Raleigh car accident attorney will take your claim to trial and ask jurors for the compensation – and for the justice – you need.
Who Should Represent You in a Personal Injury Case?
If you’re injured because someone else was negligent, currently or in the future, promptly call the award-winning personal injury lawyers at O’Malley Tunstall. With decades of personal injury experience, we represent the injured in Raleigh and throughout Eastern North Carolina.
We bring our skills and considerable legal experience to every case and every client. A personal injury attorney with O’Malley Tunstall will fight forcefully and effectively for the compensation you are entitled to by North Carolina law and for the justice you deserve.
Call O’Malley Tunstall at 919-277-0150 to schedule an in-depth, no-cost case evaluation with no obligation. And please, when you’re on the road, do not forget to wear your seat belt.
