Not Buckling Up Can Cost You In St. Petersburg
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
Seat belt laws didn’t come into play until the 1980’s and 1990’s across the United States, and before this time many drivers (and passengers) didn’t think twice about going unbuckled. Times have changed, however, and the safety power of the seatbelt has been proven time and time again. In St. Petersburg, wearing your seatbelt is the law, and failing to do so might give insurance companies good cause to deny your claim should you be injured in an accident.Florida Seatbelt Laws
Florida seatbelt laws began in 1986. The laws that went into effect in the 1980’s included only children, requiring parents to buckle all children into the seat with a seatbelt or appropriate child safety restraint seat. Children age 3 and under were required to be placed in a federally approved car seat, children age 4 and 5 could be placed in a car seat or restrained with a seatbelt, and children between 6 and 18 were required to use seatbelts. These laws remained until 2009.
In 2009 the state of Florida made it the law for front seat passengers, drivers, and any passengers that are under the age of eighteen to wear their seatbelt while riding in a vehicle within the state. As a primary law, law enforcement can pull over vehicles when they see drivers or passengers are unbuckled even if no other infraction was made.
There are some exceptions to Florida’s seatbelt law, and these include:
• A person with a physician’s note stating that the individual has a medical condition that makes it hazardous for them to wear a seatbelt.
• Employees of newspaper or mail delivery services actively making deliveries.
• Passengers or drivers of school buses issued before 2001.
• Drivers of trucks with a weight greater than 13 tons.
• Drivers operating farm equipment.
For the typical St. Petersburg motorist, it’s click it or ticket for drivers and passengers.
Why Wear Your Seatbelt
First and foremost, it’s a good idea to wear your seatbelt because not doing so is against Florida law. However, some motorists may think they can “get away with it” as long as no highway safety patrol officers take notice. Wearing your seatbelt isn’t just smart to keep yourself from getting a ticket, it’s also one of the simplest ways to keep you safe while on the road.
On average, 41% of those who lose their lives in fatal auto accidents in Florida are those who choose to not wear their seatbelts. Men are more than two times more likely to lose their lives in an accident while not wearing a seatbelt than women in the state. Seatbelts work with your airbag systems, keeping you in place to be kept still, protected, and safe in the event of any sort of accident.
Seatbelts don’t just keep you in place to be protected by airbags, they also keep you in the vehicle. Without a seatbelt, motorists are far more likely to face ejection, which not only puts them at risk but also other drivers on the road.
Failure to wear a seatbelt leads to more serious injuries, and if a person survives these injuries, they often face months or years of recovery along with compounding medical bills. Not wearing your seatbelt gives your insurance provider good cause to deny your claim outright, which could lead you to have to cover these costs out of pocket. The simple decision to skip a seatbelt could be one of the most expensive decisions a driver ever makes.
Wearing your seatbelt is simply part of safe driving practices in St. Petersburg. If you’re interested in learning more about safe driving laws in the state of Florida, contact us today.