You’d probably say sorry if you collided with someone while walking on the street. You probably both would. It reduces the chance the situation escalates into an argument and makes clear that it was not intentional but an accident.
Things are a little different if you and another driver have a collision. Here is why:
They could take your sorry as an admission of blame
Proving who was at fault or to what degree will be crucial when claiming compensation. It’s what insurance adjusters spend their days arguing about. If an insurer finds out you apologized, they may use it against you.
You need to think about fault and negligence
You probably did not mean to crash into each other. Yet if you want to get compensation, you need to move beyond the theory of it being an accident to that of it being someone’s fault. Typically, at least one of the people involved in a crash did something wrong. Showing how the other party was negligent will be crucial if you want compensation.
Does that mean you need to blame the other person straight after the crash?
Not all. You should try to limit your conversation. Keep it polite, check to see if anybody needs medical care and exchange details. Then let the police deal with the next part. You can leave the blaming till later when you have legal help. It will be your attorney’s role to argue with the other party’s insurer on your behalf if you seek damages in a crash.
