Lawsuit Information Center
How fast am I driving?
The one thing defendants (and plaintiffs, for that matter) consistently screw up at deposition is time, speed, and distance calculations. They don’t know how fast they are driving and, if they do, they don’t screw it up with their time distance calculation.
- Learn more about crash speed calculations and how they are used in car accident cases
- Speed kills this 2023 study tells us
Often, how a defendant claims an accident happened could never happen as the 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. These stories, even after being prepared by their insurance defense lawyer, are often implausible as a matter of physics.
How Far Do You Travel at 60 MPH in One Second?
As this chart indicates, you are traveling 88 feet in a second at 60 mph.
How Far Do You Travel at 30 MPH in One Second?
As this chart indicates, you are traveling 44 feet in a second at 60 mph.
Can You Tell How Fast a Car Was Going By the Property Damage?
You cannot tell how fast a car was going by the property damage. Accident reconstructionists do not offer time, speed, and distance calculations by using property damage because too many other variables are at play. Any crash speed calculator has to be based on distance over time.