Time, Speed and Distance: How Fast Was the Car Going?
The one thing defendants (and plaintiffs for that matter) consistently screw up at deposition is time, speed and distance calculations. Often, how a defendant claims an accident happened could never happen as defendant claims. If you are cross examining a defendant, make use of the following information to back the defendant into an impossible claim on liability:
1 mile per hour = 1.4667 feet per second
10 miles per hour = 14.7 feet per second
20 miles per hour = 29.3 feet per second
25 miles per hour = 36.7 feet per second
30 miles per hour = 44.0 feet per second
35 miles per hour = 51.3 feet per second
40 miles per hour = 58.7 feet per second
45 miles per hour = 66.0 feet per second
50 miles per hour = 73.3 feet per second
55 miles per hour = 80.7 feet per second
60 miles per hour = 88.0 feet per second
65 miles per hour = 95.3 feet per second
Defendants often want to stretch on how fast a plaintiff was going on how slow the defendant was traveling. Often, these stories, even after being prepared by their insurance defense lawyer, are impossible as a matter of physics.
