A state House subcommittee will discuss two bills on Wednesday that would allow defense attorneys to point out at trial that plaintiffs in auto wreck cases were not wearing seat belts. House Bill 504 and House Bill 532 essentially are identical in intent with slight differences in wording.
Both contain changes to OCGA §40-8-76.1 that, with caveats, would allow seat belt usage to be introduced as mitigating evidence in the damages phase of car wreck suits. The bills’ provisions only apply to front-seat occupants who are at least 14 at the time of their injuries. The bills also would require defendants to introduce the seat belt evidence before entering a pretrial order. Both are sponsored by lawyer-lawmakers and are scheduled for a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 18 at 10 a.m.
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