{"id":4382,"date":"2017-06-06T10:19:36","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T10:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tayloremmet.co.uk\/blog\/wordpress\/?p=1886"},"modified":"2017-06-06T10:19:36","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T10:19:36","slug":"contributory-negligence-seat-belt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tayloremmet.co.uk\/blogs\/contributory-negligence-seat-belt\/","title":{"rendered":"Contributory Negligence: Failure to wear a seat belt"},"content":{"rendered":"

In April we looked at an contributory negligence<\/em>\u00a0arising from\u00a0the failure to wear a\u00a0helmet\u00a0whilst riding\u00a0a pushbike. We now deal with the issue of not wearing seat belts in vehicles and how damage claims are reduced if they are not worn by a victim.<\/p>\n

The 2 sides to contributory negligence<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

There are two aspects to a\u00a0claimant\u2019s possible contributory negligence: one view is that if it hadn\u2019t been for the Defendant\u2019s negligent driving, the accident would never have happened and the Claimant would not have been injured at all; the opposing argument is that if the Claimant had worn a seat belt, then his or her\u00a0injuries would not have been as serious as they were or they wouldn’t have occurred at all.<\/p>\n

Froom v Butcher 1976<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The law of contributory negligence\u00a0arising from\u00a0the failure to wear seat belts was developed in the seminal case known as Froom v Butcher\u00a0in\u00a01976\u00a0where the driver of a vehicle was not wearing his seatbelt and suffered head and chest injuries in a collision caused by the Defendant\u2019s negligence.<\/p>\n

The Judge, the\u00a0late\u00a0Lord Denning stated, \u201cEveryone knows, or ought to know, that when he goes out in a car he should fasten the seatbelt ” and went on to make\u00a0a deduction of 25%\u00a0from the Claimant’s damages.<\/p>\n

Since that case, the government has made the wearing of seat belts compulsory. It is a criminal offence, carrying a fine of up to \u00a3500, if you are found not to be wearing a seatbelt whilst travelling in a motorised vehicle.<\/p>\n

How the contributory negligence law works:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The law around cases involving failure to wear a seatbelt broadly works like this:-<\/p>\n