When you are injured in an accident case caused by another vehicle, you can bring a lawsuit and claim damages. For proving negligence or carelessness of the other driver, distance, speed, and time of the other vehicle are critical factors. To take an actual example, two people are travelling in their car to meet somebody. Their car is smashed by another vehicle when they are going through an intersection.
The Deposition
In this situation, it is critical to know certain things about the other vehicle, and your lawyer will get a chance to question the other driver during deposition. The deposition takes place before the trial, usually in an attorney’s office. During the deposition, your lawyer can ask various questions to the other driver about the incident, and the driver will have to answer these questions under oath. Hence, deposition is an important procedure where critical facts can be established, which can be used during the trial.
Important Questions to be asked at a Deposition
At the deposition, your lawyer will need to establish the speed, time and distance, in order to show the driver was careless and responsible for the accident. For establishing negligence, your lawyer will ask certain important questions to the other driver such as:
- What was the distance between your vehicle and the car of my client
- What was the speed of your car at the time of impact
- How long did it take you to travel from the time you first saw my client’s vehicle until the time of impact
Establishing Negligence with these Questions
The three elements are connected, and hence, even if the defendant driver answers two of the above questions, the third element can be calculated. If he reveals his distance and speed, we can figure out how long it took him to get there. If he knows the timing and distance, we can figure out his speed. Hence, knowing at least two of the things is critical for establishing distance, speed, and time. Secondly, if he is not accurate in telling any one of the aspects, your lawyer will be able to establish that he is not revealing things accurately, and he does not have credibility. Accidents are mainly caused because one of the vehicles is travelling at a high speed, and the driver does not have enough time to avoid an accident. The negligent driver will therefore try to hide the speed at which he was driving, or he may say that he had noticed the speedometer in his car before the impact. Your lawyer will therefore first try to find out his car’s distance from your vehicle. Then he will establish the time the impact happened from the time the other driver noticed your vehicle. When these two factors are established, finding out the speed is merely a matter of calculation.