Two Dead, Two Injured in Jackson County Rollover
Two people died and two more suffered injuries when an SUV rolled over in Jackson County on Wednesday, August 10 in a deadly car accident, according to NBC 11 Alive Atlanta. The three passengers were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident. It appears that the vehicle veered off the road, then overcorrected to stay on the road. This resulted in a sharp turn that overturned the vehicle. After the SUV rolled over, it hit a tree and came to a rest.
Young Drivers Neglect to Wear Seat Belts, Causing Injuries
Seat belt use can make a big difference to survival chances in a car accident. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that most of the Americans under 44 years of age who die each year in car accidents were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. Young drivers (ages 18-24) also have the highest rate of hospitalization from car accidents. It’s these same drivers who are least likely to wear seat belts. Men who live outside of big cities are the group of people least likely to wear a seat belt. Passengers are also less likely to wear a seat belt if they are riding in the back seat. But seat belts are important: they reduce the risk of serious injury or death in a car accident by about half.
Buckling Up is the Law, but It Doesn’t Change Liability
If seat belts are so important for keeping drivers and passengers safe in the event of an accident, then does that make passengers partly responsible for injuries they suffer if they don’t buckle up? In Georgia, courts follow a rule called comparative negligence, in which parties to a lawsuit are financially responsible for injuries in proportion to the extent that they are responsible for them, even if only partly. In general, a negligence lawsuit holds people responsible for taking reasonable care not to injure others when their failure leads to injuries.
But if someone else isn’t taking reasonable care and this contributes to the injury, then the two parties may share responsibility. Taking reasonable care includes following laws that try to keep people safe. According to section 40-8-76.1 of the Georgia Code, anyone sitting in the front seat of a vehicle must wear a seatbelt or face a fine. However, the law also states that failing to wear a seat belt doesn’t affect your liability in the case of a car accident. In other words, even if the passenger might have avoided their injury by wearing a seat belt, the person who caused the accident still has to pay the same damages in a lawsuit.
Jackson County Accident Passengers Broke Law, but Driver is Still Liable
In the case of the accident in Jackson County, the front seat passenger who wasn’t wearing his or her seatbelt was in violation of state vehicle safety laws. The two backseat passengers in the vehicle were not in violation of the seat belt law. However, this would not affect whether the driver or any other person would be liable for negligence in a lawsuit, or how much they would have to pay.
Get Legal Help
If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, you need legal assistance. Get in touch with an experienced car accident attorney at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter in Cobb County today to get the compensation you deserve.
