You’re at a four-way stop when another driver goes out of turn. They slam into your car, and traffic grinds to a halt. You get out of the vehicle to take pictures of the scene and exchange contact information with the other driver.
At the same time, you’re an empathetic person. You feel bad that the accident has taken place. You’re tempted to say to the other driver something like “I’m so sorry this has happened.” You’re just trying to be kind and acknowledge that the two of you are in an unfortunate situation where someone may even have been injured. But why could this be a crucial mistake?
It could be used as an admission of guilt
The problem is that apologizing could be misconstrued as admitting guilt. If you say that you’re sorry, you may be referring to the general scenario or the fact that the accident has even taken place. But the other driver may take that as you saying that you’re sorry for your driving error, which caused the accident.
Even if the other driver knows that they were in the wrong, they may still be tempted to use this against you. For example, at a four-way stop, there may not have been any cameras. You know that the other driver was supposed to wait because you had arrived at the intersection first. But they may claim that you were the one who went out of turn, and then they will use your own apology as evidence against you.
It is important to avoid errors like this if you’ve been injured in a car accident. You also need to look into all of the correct steps to take to seek financial compensation.