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Which is more reliable? A reconstruction based on sound physical facts, eyewitness statements, or both? Eyewitness statements are usually opinions stated as facts, easily misinterpreted, and often misleading. These historically vague summaries are severely limited for accident reconstruction or animation use. This paper reviews the reasons for witness communication difficulties and provides questioning techniques that will, in many instances, allow the investigator to extract data which is more consistent with physical facts and Newtonian physics. This more accurate witness data can be used for developing effective testimony, reconstruction and animation.

Until recently, it was necessary to spend tens of thousands of dollars on hardware and software to produce computer generated accident reconstruction animations. Several software companies have now developed powerful 3-D animation for the PC, Mac, and Amiga machines. This paper compares several such systems and describes a method to produce animations using the PC-compatible platform.