“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.” We’ve all heard it in the movies. A character is being arrested and the police officer “reads them their rights.” While I’m not a criminal defense lawyer, I think any one worth hiring would advise the arrested character to remain silent. The same can be said if you’ve been in a car or truck crash, car accident, etc. and are thinking about talking to the other person’s insurance company. As a car accident attorney, I must warn you that what you can say can be used against you. Here’s why!
The Insurance Company is NOT On Your Side
Let’s be clear from the start, the goal of every insurance company is to pay as little as possible on claims. That means the other driver’s insurance company has every motive in the world to find you at fault for the car crash and avoid having to pay out anything, or at least far less than you are entitled to receive. Even if there is no reasonable dispute about whether you are at fault for the car accident, the insurance company will seek to obtain information from you and may claim you suffered less serious injuries than you may have or no injuries at all. This way, even if they can’t avoid paying something, they can seek to use your statements to limit the amount of your recovery or the compensation due to you. You have very little to gain and a great deal to lose by speaking with the other driver’s insurance company. If you are unsure of what you should say to the other person’s insurance company, contact GKT today and speak to a local car accident attorney.
Let’s Take An Example
Imagine that you’re driving down Route 2 through Moundsville, West Virginia with your 2-year old daughter in the back seat. You’re late bringing her to school and hurried out the door. However, you are driving in a perfectly safe manner. Unfortunately, another car crosses Route 2 in front of you to take a left turn. The driver didn’t see you coming, and you could not avoid hitting the other person’s car. Fortunately, you just dinged the back of the other driver’s car and other than a bit of soreness, everyone is more or less fine. Everything is taken care of at the scene and everyone goes their separate ways.
As with most car accidents, they should be reported to the insurance company. The other driver calls and tells the insurance company you were speeding and that’s the cause of the car accident. Then the other driver’s insurance company calls you to get your version. They ask you what time the accident happened. You say that you’re not absolutely sure of the exact time but you were taking your daughter to school. School starts at 8 a.m. You say you were running late, so you probably left the house a little before 8 a.m., and you were about 10 minutes away from your home so you “guess” around 8:10 a.m. You explain, however, that you’re not 100% sure because your daughter was crying and you were “distracted trying to get out the door and get to school.”
To you, you only meant that you were distracted trying to get your daughter ready for school and into the car, so you weren’t paying attention to the time. To the other driver’s insurance company, you’re now a “distracted driver” that was hurrying to get your daughter to school on time. Wouldn’t someone who is trying to get her daughter to school on time be speeding? Would a “distracted driver” know what speed they were traveling at any specific time? Wouldn’t a distracted driver be driving in an unsafe manner? So, even though you were driving in a perfectly safe manner and not speeding, there is now a dispute as to who is at fault in the car crash.
The truth is you have no legal obligation to speak to the other person’s insurance company and it’s not a good idea to do so. If you find yourself in this situation, contact GKT at (304) 845-9750 and speak with a local car accident attorney today.
GKT Car Accident Attorney
So, what should you do if you’ve been injured in a car accident or car crash? Make sure you contact a local, knowledgeable, and experienced car accident lawyer like the ones at GKT. Our lawyers have been representing people injured in car, truck, drunk driving, and other auto accidents for over 45 years. Whether you’ve been in a car accident or truck crash in West Virginia, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, our attorneys fight for our clients to ensure that they receive the compensation due to them. If you’ve been injured in a truck or car accident or crash, call GKT today at (304) 845-9750 or live chat with a representative 24/7 at GKT.com. We offer free, no-obligation consultations and we don’t charge a fee or expense unless we win your case.
Whatever you choose to do, just remember that when speaking with the other driver’s insurance company after a car accident or car crash, “you have the right to remain silent and what you do say can be used against you”!
