When you are involved in car accidents, there is a very high possibility you will want the names, phone numbers, and addresses of all the accident witnesses. In the event that the case is close, witnesses are required to prove the fact that everything happened exactly as you mentioned.
It is a certainty you will also want the help of auto accident lawyers near me to deal with witnesses though. This is because not all of them will be credible. Also, you can be sure your credibility or their credibility will be attacked.
Why Do you Need Witnesses?
Insurance companies and court officials always question the bias of defendants and plaintiffs since they are direct witnesses with interests. The result of the case will affect them. It is the plaintiff that is now suing for money while the defendant wants to end up paying nothing or as little as possible.
Neutral witnesses do not have a stake and do not care about the result of the injury claim. As a result, what they say will be taken into account by the jury and by insurance companies. However, this is only the case in the event that the witness is credible.
Witness Credibility
We can define credibility as being trustworthiness or believability. This is very complex and is often just as equally important as the actual testimony of the individual. The witness who does not appear to be credible is going to damage the entire case. The injured party does not want to end up being associated with unbelievable witnesses. Something like this could only hurt the case.
The big question is what will impact the credibility of the witness. Generally, the very important factors that do impact credibility are the following:
- The consistency of the testimony when comparing what was said in the past and what is said in the trial.
- The circumstances in which the witness heard or saw accident events.
- If the events were accurately recalled.
- If the witness seems to lie.
- If the events recalled by the witness make sense.
- If the testimony matches what was presented as evidence in the injury case.
- The demeanor and the attitude of the witness during the trial.
- The potential interests of the witness in the case outcome.
- Criminal records for the witness.
As a very simple example, if the eyewitness was far away, they couldn’t have seen the particulars of the accident better than someone very close.
Attacking Witness Credibility
Car accident injury claims are very complex. They involve examinations of witnesses and cross examinations. Attorneys are masters at attacking the credibility of a witness so it is very important that you find those witnesses that are as credible as possible. This is not at all easy to do. As a result, it is highly recommended to have a car accident attorney in your corner that will do it for you.
Witnesses are a big part of both discussing settlements with insurance companies and proving what happened during a trial. Without the help of accident attorneys, it will be quite complicated to deal with witnesses.