At The Scene Of Your Car Accident . . . Be Careful What You Say

At the scene of your car accident, be careful what you say . . . especially when talking to the other driver about the cause of the accident.  The "who pays" decision usually depends on who caused the accident, and statements made by the drivers at the scene are often powerful evidence on this point. When a driver blurts out, "I'm sorry. I didn't see you," that's strong evidence that the speaker caused the accident. And he probably did . . . but, maybe not.

Maybe the other driver wasn't seen because he ran through a red light, didn't have his headlights on when he should have, or for some other good reason -- and he was as much at fault as the one admitting responsibility. Therefore, the main reason you should be careful what you say at the accident scene, and should not admit that you caused the accident, is that you may be wrong. This is especially true since you are under great stress right after an accident, may be in pain, and may not be thinking clearly. So, be careful what you say at the scene of your car accident. Only talk to the police officer about how the accident happened . . . and stick to the facts.

In addition to the risk that statements made at the scene could be wrong, there is also a chance that correct statements can be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Witnesses can misunderstand what you say, and later claim that you said something different. "I was paying attention" could be heard as "I was not paying attention." And statements can be misinterpreted. A simple "I'm sorry" can be interpreted as an admission that the speaker caused the accident when all she meant was that she was sorry that the accident happened, no matter who caused it, or sorry that another person had been hurt.

If it's the right thing to do, you can always accept responsibility for causing the accident later, after you leave the scene, calm down and analyze the situation. Of course, while you should be careful what you say, if the other driver says anything about how he caused the accident, you should do two things . . . write down exactly what the other driver said and tell the police officer. That way, you will have a record of the admission in your notes and, hopefully, the police officer will put it in the accident report, too.

You can use this accident scene investigation form to write down the statement that the other driver made. Put it in the "Other Driver" section, under "statement."