CHARLESTON – The state Senate again has passed a seatbelt admissibility bill, and again it is headed to the House of Delegates.
Senate Bill 439 was approved March 10 by a 24-9 vote. Similar measures have passed out of the Senate in recent years, but none of them have made it out of the House.
“Once again, the State Senate has passed much-needed legal reform with SB 439, the seatbelt admissibility bill,” Greg Thomas with West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse told The West Virginia Record. “We thank each and every senator who voted for the legislation that is not only an important legal reform, but also an automobile safety measure.”
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The bill would establish the admissibility of evidence of seatbelt misuse or non-use as evidence in considering damages in a civil suit. The intent of the bill is to reverse previous state Supreme Court decisions that did not allow the failure of seatbelt use to be considered in assessing damages.
State code does not require the use of seatbelts by all occupants of a passenger vehicle on a public road, but the bill would affect how damages are assessed in civil suits regarding the choice to use or not use a seatbelt. Evidence of seatbelt misuse or non-use by any driver or passenger would be admissible in determining negligence, contributory negligence, comparative negligence or failutre to mitigate damages.
Currently, evidence of non-use of a seatbelt is not admissible in a negligence action to assess one's percentage of fault or to show one's failure to mitigate damages.
If SB439 passes, if a driver or others had been injured, evidence of seatbelt non-use could cost or save a party in a civil action a significant amount. If there is a cause of action involving the passenger vehicle alleging negligence, then the decision to wear or not wear the seatbelt in the vehicle could be used to determine if the choice contributed to or prevented injury and in the calculation of damages.
Thomas said he is more optimistic about the bill’s prospects in the House this session.
“This legislation would provide commonsense reform that would make West Virginia roads safer, create a better environment for manufacturing jobs and potentially lower consumer costs,” Thomas said. “With changes to key leadership in the House Judiciary Committee, consumers and job providers should be optimistic that this important legislation will pass both bodies this year.
“We are encouraged by the strong leadership in the House of Delegates on legal reform so far this legislative session and are very optimistic that seat belt admissibility will finally become law in West Virginia this year.”
The president of a statewide group for trial attorneys says the legislation isn’t needed, saying West Virginia already has one of the strictest, more conservative statutes in the country.
“The Senate bill on admissibility of failure to wear a seatbelt is unnecessary,” Jonathan Mani of the West Virginia Association for Justice told The Record. “West Virginia is already well ahead of most states on this issue.
“If an accident victim is not wearing a seatbelt that person must accept a 5 percent reduction in medical damages. If the person refuses, then the defendant can ask the judge to instruct jurors that the individual was not wearing a seatbelt and how failing to wear a seat belt made injuries worse. Most states don't do that.”