I have seen the results of many car accidents, including those resulting from being thrown from a vehicle, and I can tell you, your chances of surviving a car accident are substantially increased by wearing a seat belt. Period. I have been unfortunate enough to see the results of an ejectment first hand, when a friend suffered a brain injury due to her flying out the passenger window when her car rolled and hitting. She landed on the street, head first. I was called to the hospital just in time to watch the doctor stitch up the nasty-looking head wound. I also watched her struggle for recovery. She was never the same person again.
Had she been wearing her seat belt she never would have suffered such a traumatic brain injury (TBI). She might have been hurt, down and out for a few days, but she wouldn’t have seen the life she knew end as a result of that accident, and a difficult and painful life begin. She will suffer for the rest of her life due to her mistake, which resulted from failing to re-buckle her belt after she grabbed her Pennsylvania turnpike toll ticket.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) states that seat belts reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a car crash 50%.
If my true story about my friend isn’t enough for you, perhaps avoiding a ticket will help. Here in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the police are going to be increasing their enforcement of seat belt laws.
Some people argue, well if I wear a seat belt, I could end up with a more serious injury. The likelihood of this is minimal, and in fact, if your seat belt causes great injury, you could have a product liability case, because something probably failed with the seat belt production. The biggest injury most people get from a seat belt is a sore from the line where they were restrained, down across their chests.
Others argue that the government doesn’t have the right to force them to wear a seat belt. Here’s the reality, this issue is long settled by the courts, such arguments won’t get you out of a ticket. The government does have the right to order you to wear a seat belt. Like it or not, in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, it is the law. You have to wear a seat belt.
In Pennsylvania you cannot be pulled over just for failing to wear a seat belt. However, if you have a child under 4 in the car who is not in a car seat, that is a primary offense, meaning the office can pull you over for that alone.
As in Pennsylvania, the law in New Jersey is a secondary offense, meaning you cannot be pulled over just for failing to wear your seat belt.
Click It or Ticket is a zero tolerance enforcement program. This program will take place from May 20 through June 2, 2013 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and many other states around the country.
LOWENTHAL AND ABRAMS, P.C.
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