Myths about car collisions you may still believe
**A contributed post as written for The Safe Driver by Ashley Thompson .
According to an article published by Forbes back in 2011, you’ll most likely have three to four collisions happen to you over the course of your life. If you’ve ever been in a car collision, you may have falsely believed certain myths that you might’ve read in other articles, heard from a friend, or seen on television. However, we’re about to burst your bubble as we debunk some myths about collisions.
- It’s OK to leave the scene of a car collision, especially if it wasn’t your fault.
You think that since you’re the victim in the collision, you can just drive off if you’re unharmed.
- However, most laws require every driver caught in a collision – regardless of fault – to pull their cars over to the side of the road to avoid causing traffic jams.
- Leaving the scene of a collision can result in you getting a misdemeanor charge even if you weren’t at fault!
- You don’t need to see a doctor if you aren’t obviously injured
You may believe that only you can truly know everything that’s happening to your body. That simply isn’t true, and seldom is it less true than after experiencing a collision.
- If your car got totaled but you didn’t suffer any injuries, you may have just hailed a cab ride back home thinking you could just sleep it off.
- However, some collision-related injuries aren’t immediately apparent. Some injuries can rear their ugly heads months and even years after a collision occurred.
- So instead of trying to sleep it off at home, tell that cab to drop you off at a hospital (ideally one that accepts your medical insurance.)
- The police officers who responded to the site of the car collision are there to find out who’s at fault.
The very first thing that you may have done after getting caught in a collision is to reach for your phone and call the police hoping that they’ll arrest whomever it was that hit your car.
- However, the police officers who responded to the site of the collision are there to gather all relevant information about the incident itself which they’ll then type up in the form of a police report once they head back to their station.
- The police officers who responded to the site of the collision aren’t allowed to interrogate you or the other driver involved and force either one of you to admit fault.
- If you are at fault, it’s okay to admit it to the police.
If it’s clear as day to you that you’re responsible for causing the collision, you may have thought that “manning up” and owning fault to the said incident might lessen the burden of guilt that you carry.
- However, your premature move of admitting fault might cost you a lot more than you bargained for, especially if the other driver decides to file a lawsuit against you.
- Instead of readily admitting that you are at fault, you should only tell the police questioning you the facts about the incident itself, save those that would incriminate you. The entire truth will probably surface anyway.
Even with the spate of articles published online regarding collisions, you might still have fallen prey to false information. It’s not your fault; there’s a whole lot of people out there trying to manipulate you, or are simply ignorant of the facts. This article hopes to enlighten you and save you the severe consequences of being wrong.
If you want to understand what it’s like to be involved in car accidents, you can click here to explore more on its potential legal implications on you and your family.
Lea Briggs is a young legal writer who enjoys a challenge when writing. Lea aims to make sure her articles allow readers to have a basic grasp of the concepts 
she is writing, especially giving emphasis to how these subjects can help them in their daily lives. She likes to spend time with her family at home during her days off.