What is the Current Law Regarding Wearing Seat Belts in the State of Florida?

The statute containing the requirements for wearing a seat belt in the state of Florida is Florida Statute section 316.614. Under section 316.614(4), it is unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle in Florida unless each passenger and the operator of the vehicle under the age of 18 years are restrained by a safety belt or by a required child restraint device, or to operate a motor vehicle in Florida unless the person is restrained by a safety belt. It is unlawful for any person 18 years of age or older to be a front seat passenger of a motor vehicle unless that person is wearing a seat belt when the vehicle is in motion. It is important to note that if the passenger is 18 years of age or older, he or she is only required to wear a safety belt if he or she is a front seat passenger. The statute makes no specific mention or requirement for a rear seat passenger to wear a safety belt, unless that passenger is less than 18 years of age.

Safety belts are not required for a school bus, a bus used for the transportation of persons for compensation, a farm tractor, a truck having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, a motorcycle, a moped, or a bicycle. As with any other statute, the safety belt statute contains certain exceptions and/or persons that are exempt from the requirement to wear a safety belt. A person who is certified by a physician as having a medical condition that causes the use of a safety belt to be inappropriate or dangerous is not required to wear a safety belt. An employee of a newspaper home delivery service while in the course of his or her employment delivering newspapers on home delivery routes is not required to use a seat belt. In addition, an employee of a solid waste or recyclable collection service is not required to use a safety belt while in the course of employment collecting solid waste or recyclables on designated routes. Safety belts are also not required to be used in the living quarters of an RV. The requirements of the statute do not apply to motor vehicles that are not required to be equipped with safety belts under federal law

Any person who violates the provisions of the safety belt statute commits a nonmoving violation. The most important provision of the Safety Belt Usage statute is contained in section 316.614(10), which provides that “a violation of the provisions of this section shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall such violation be used as prima facie evidence of negligence or be considered in mitigation of damages, but such violation may be considered as evidence of comparative negligence in any civil action.” Basically, at trial, the percentage of the plaintiff’s damages that is attributable to plaintiff’s negligent conduct (the plaintiff’s total comparative negligence) should be used to proportionately reduce the plaintiff’s recovery. This single percentage should be reflected only once on the verdict form.  The jury should consider both the plaintiff’s negligence in operating the vehicle and the failure to use a seat belt, if applicable, when calculating this percentage.  

Tim Sanders, Burnetti, P.A.