Seat Belt Injuries
A seat belt is meant to protect motor vehicle occupants from serious injuries in automobile accidents. While seat belts achieve this goal, for the most part, they can also be the cause of certain injuries. As a car accident victim in California, an injury attorney in Los Angeles can help you recover financial compensation from the at-fault party for seat belt injuries.
What Is Seat Belt Syndrome?
Seat belt syndrome is a pattern of injuries that can arise due to the force of impact between a vehicle occupant’s body and a seat belt. These injuries can occur due to the extreme forces involved in a motor vehicle collision that push the occupant against the straps of the belt at high velocity.
Seat belt syndrome can include both internal and external injuries from contact with the safety belt, such as:
- Bruising and contusions
- Abrasions
- Soft-tissue injuries
- Chest and breastbone injuries
- Clavicle (collarbone) fractures
- Rib or bone fractures
- Punctured lungs
- Organ damage
- Internal bleeding
Blood vessel injuries or punctures - Pelvis injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Permanent paralysis
If you notice trouble breathing or pain in your chest, abdomen or back after a car accident, seek immediate medical intervention for prompt injury diagnosis. You may have suffered one or more seat belt injuries in places where the belt restrained your body during an impact.
Risk Factors for Seat Belt Injuries in Automobile Accidents
It is important for a seat belt to always be in the correct position across the hips and chest – not across the stomach or behind the back. If a lap belt is positioned across the stomach instead of the pelvis, this increases the risk of abdominal injuries in a car crash, such as intestinal perforation and damage to the liver or spleen.
Children are more vulnerable to seat belt injuries than adults. This is why, in California, child safety seat laws require small children to be in car seats or booster seats until they are tall enough to be properly restrained by a seat belt. Finally, a vehicle traveling at a high speed increases the risk of seat belt injuries, as the force of the collision will be greater.
Can You Recover Compensation for Seat Belt Injuries After a Car Accident in California?
In California, the fault-based car insurance law holds the person or party at fault for an automobile accident financially responsible (liable) for all injuries caused by the crash. If a car accident victim sustains seat belt injuries, these can be included on a car accident insurance claim. The defendant, or party at fault for your accident, will be legally responsible (liable) for paying for all of your injuries, including any caused by vehicle safety equipment such as the seat belt or airbag.
You may also wish to have the seat belt investigated if your injuries appear to be more severe than they should have been, had the seat belt been working properly. A defective products lawyer in Los Angeles can check to see if the device has any defects, such as design, manufacturing or marketing flaws that contributed to your injuries.
If a seat belt injury occurs due to an auto defect, such as seat belt failure due to a faulty latching mechanism, the injured victim may have grounds to file a product liability claim against the manufacturer. This type of claim seeks reimbursement for the victim’s losses from the manufacturer responsible for defective seat belt design, production or marketing. Defective product cases often do not require the victim to prove negligence, or the failure to act with proper care. It is typically enough to show that the product contained a defect and injured the victim.
How an Attorney Can Help During a Seat Belt Injury Case
If you are diagnosed with any type of seat belt injury after a motor vehicle collision in California, you may need to hire a Los Angeles car accident lawyer to help you with the claims process. You could be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, property damage, and more. However, a car insurance company can be difficult to deal with. An attorney will use their knowledge and experience of the law to get the best possible results for your injury claim. You can focus on healing from your seat belt injuries while your lawyer negotiates a settlement with an insurer or brings your case to court, if necessary. To discuss a seat belt injury case in more detail, contact the attorneys at Rose, Klein & Marias LLP for a free consultation.