In A Motorcycle Accident? What To Know About Witnesses
Posted on: 9 July 2018
Being in an accident on your motorcycle can be a horrific experience, leaving you with serious injuries and a damaged vehicle. You'll want to be doing all that you can to receive the compensation you need to help with recovery, which is where witnesses will play a key role. Here is what you need to know about selecting witnesses in your motorcycle related injury case.
The Witness's Location
Where a witness happened to be located during the accident will give them more credibility when trying to defend your side of the story. Ideally, you want a witness that was standing nearby and saw the whole accident play out, rather than a driver that was in another car and may have only caught part of it.
Unfortunately, the ideal witness may not always be possible to find. Talk to several witnesses and try to find out where they were located and how much they saw, which can help tell you which one will be the most credible based on their recollection of events.
The Witness's Character
Having the ideal witness based on their recollection of events may not be enough, especially if the witness's character is not so great. The witness should give your case credibility, not take credibility away. For example, they may have character traits that show they are not trustworthy or honest, which will affect your case negatively.
Determining someone's character can be tough, but it helps if the person is not a convicted criminal. You should also have a witness that was not somehow connected to the accident and has something to gain. For example, if the witness is a family member, that may be looked at negatively because they will have a bias towards you. If you can manage to find a witness that's a neutral party and gives your case credibility due to their character, you'll have a great way to prove your case.
The Witness's Health
It's also important that the witness is healthy because you don't want their health to cause doubts to the truth of their statements. For example, a witness that has bad eyesight or problems hearing may be detrimental, since the defense could argue that your witness did not recall the accident correctly due to their overall health.
If your witnesses have problems that could hurt your case, you'll want to work with a motorcycle accident attorney for assistance. They'll be able to help your witnesses appear to be more credible in court.
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