For some people, apologizing after a car accident just feels natural. They’re sorry that it happened. They wish it hadn’t. They want to express their concern and compassion to the other driver.
It’s not that this compassion-based mindset isn’t a good one to have. It’s noble and shows that you care about someone else’s well-being, even when you may be injured yourself. But, be that as it may, you still should not apologize after the crash.
The issue is that the other driver may think you’re admitting fault. You just think you’re saying “I’m sorry that this happened to us both.” What they hear, though, is “I’m sorry that I hit your car.”
Obviously, fault is incredibly important after a crash. It can determine who gets a ticket or who has to pay to cover the medical bills that you could be facing. You don’t want to do anything that even remotely suggests that you were at fault. It’s a bad start to what could be a lengthy process.
What if you think you were at fault? You still shouldn’t say anything. As strange as it sounds, you could be wrong. Maybe you thought it was a two-way stop and you feel like you pulled out in front of someone. What you didn’t see in the chaos of the moment, though, was that it’s actually a four-way stop. You did nothing wrong. Accidents happen quickly and you can’t always trust your own account. Let the professional crash reconstruction team determine what happened.
If the other driver was at fault, you need to know what steps to take to get the necessary compensation for injuries, lost wages and the like. It’s usually wisest to speak to an experienced advocate before you talk to the other party’s insurance company.