Accident reconstruction expert Rusty Haight drives a Ford Crown Victoria, a former taxi cab, into a Saturn sedan during car crash testing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Monday, June 4, 2012. The tests, conducted by the Collision Safety Institute Crash Testing Team, were held in conjunction with the 11th annual ARC-CSI Crash Conference.
Thursday, April 16, 2015 | 10:24 a.m.
A bill moving through the Nevada Legislature would allow juries in lawsuits about taxicab crashes to consider whether a passenger was wearing a seatbelt.
The Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing Thursday for AB175.
Existing law requires adult cab passengers to wear a seatbelt, but says a decision not to wear the belt can't be considered negligence in a lawsuit.
Bill proponents include cab companies that say it's common sense to allow seatbelt evidence in court.
The Nevada Justice Association represents trial lawyers and opposed the bill, saying it would refocus lawsuits on the passenger's seatbelt rather than the cause of the accident. They also say taxi drivers have a higher legal responsibility than the passenger because they're being paid to drive.
The Assembly already passed the bill 25-14.
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