Posted: January 16, 2012
People are dead from a serious car accident on I-71 and all the media can talk about is the failure of the deceased to wear seatbelts. How do they know that a seat belt would have prevented an ejection from the car. Or would have prevented the deaths
It was reported that 19 year old Danica McClester lost control of her car and it rolled . In fairness the actual report I saw stated;
"But the outcome may have been different if the back-seat passengers had been wearing seat belts." Who really knows at this point. An accident reconstructionist and seat belt specialist would have to determine if the seat belt would have kept them in and if so would they have survived.
As a matter of a point of law back seat passengers over the age of 15 are not required to wear seat belts. While I don't advocate not wearing seatbelts if people would drive safely the seat belt is not the issue. Nor did the lack of wearing a seatbelt cause the car to be rolled. I've represented people who did not wear their seatbelt even front seat passenger. It would not have made any difference as to the injuries according to a biomechanical engineer and an accident reconstructionist I hired.
The driver apparently lost control of the car. The report did not say why. Failure to control seems the likely cause of the accident and deaths.
Please condolences to the families that lost children in this horrible accident. All the insurance company's involved should pay under their coverages and let the families move forward with their grief that will never end.
