Like any personal injury case, whether or not you have a case is very much determined by the evidence and the time since the tragic incident occured.
If there was a case for the third party (defendant) to answer, which sounds like it given he has been convicted, then the fact that your father was not wearing a seat belt would only affect the claim in respect of the fact that it would reduce the level of compensation by 25% and not wearing a seat belt is deemed as coontributory neglligence.
I work in personal injury law, if I can help or you would simply like a chat (without any obligation on your part I hasten to add) then I would be delighted to assist.
