Injured Passenger Not Provided Seatbelt – Verdict

In favor of our client, one of nine passengers in a rental car that was only equipped with enough seatbelts for six passengers. Our client was one of the unbelted passengers seated in the cargo area of the car when it struck a disabled tractor-trailer on the roadway on a rainy night. Our client broke her neck as a result of the impact and wore a halo brace for several months and developed traumatic arthritis in the area of her neck. The jury found the rental car company 45% responsible (for not having seatbelts for all of the passengers), the tractor-trailer 45% responsible (for failing to properly warn oncoming vehicles that it was disabled on the roadway) and the driver of the rental car 10% responsible.