Under both New York and New Jersey law, you must buckle up in a car but even if you’re not wearing your seatbelt, you can bring a lawsuit if you’re injured in an accident. The issue will be, “Would that seatbelt have made a difference?” To the extent that wearing the seatbelt would have prevented your injuries, that’s going to be a defense and that’s going to reduce the amount that you could recover in your claim.
