What methodology works best to prove seat belt usage?
• Eyewitness accounts • Photographs at scene • Medical witnesses detailing bruising • Photographs of client’s bruising • Photographs of seat belt marks compared to other belts in vehicle • DYNAMAN and/or MADYMO • Crash and sled tests Jurors are very cynical these days. They want to find some excuse to find against a plaintiff. They seem to believe that injured people are blaming too many others for their own misfortune. We need to right that wrong. Jurors want to believe people who are injured will distort the truth to win. That starts with seat belt usage. We need to find as many independent means as is possible to set that bias straight. Do not take this topic too lightly. Come at it in as many different persuasive directions as you can develop. If you cannot prove seat belt usage, the chances of prevailing are terribly remote.
