The president of the nation's largest trucking industry association said so-called "seatbelt gag rules," which prevent jurors presiding over an auto accident lawsuit from knowing whether the injured party was wearing one, are outdated and lead to unfair jury verdicts.
Chris Spear of the American Trucking Association made the comment in a press release issued Tuesday, praising a new Indiana law that ended the rule in that state, signed into law by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
“This is a commonsense measure that only increases transparency and ensures jurors have complete information when rendering a fair and just verdict,” said Spear. “Indiana is one of many states in recent years to amend the so-called ‘seatbelt gag rule,’ a legacy of a bygone era when seat belt use wasn't common and the safety benefit wasn't universally accepted like it is today.”
Georgia still has a "seatbelt gag rule" in state law.
It reads that "the failure of an occupant of a motor vehicle to wear a seat safety belt in any seat of a motor vehicle which has a seat safety belt or belts shall not be considered evidence of negligence or causation, shall not otherwise be considered by the finder of fact on any question of liability of any person, corporation, or insurer, shall not be any basis for cancellation of coverage or increase in insurance rates, and shall not be evidence used to diminish any recovery for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance, occupancy, or operation of a motor vehicle."
In 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court wrote that Georgia's seatbelt gag rule "likely violates the due process rights of auto manufacturers defending crashworthiness cases," but didn't go so far as to overturn it as unconstitutional.
"The Georgia Supreme Court aimed its strong statement on the gag rule’s constitutional infirmities directly at the Georgia legislature," wrote lawyer Lee Mickus for the Washington Legal Foundation. "The legislature can and should act promptly and remediate the problematic arbitrary exclusion of critical seat belt non-usage evidence."
West Virginia amended its seatbelt gag rule in 2021.
Louisiana repealed its seatbelt gag rule completely in 2020.
The American Tort Reform Foundation (ATFR) cited Georgia's seatbelt gag rule in naming the state its number one "judicial hellhole" for 2023.
"Both lawyers and lenders profit off the litigation, as unregulated cash-for-lawsuit companies offer plaintiffs loans at excessive rates, then take a substantial share of their awards," ATFR wrote.
Every state in the U.S. other than New Hampshire has laws requiring seat belts, according to the Governors' Highway Safety Association.