If you have an Accident. Advice to new drivers.

Correction: cops are looking to find someone guilty, no matter their actual innocence...

 

If you knew your rights....BRO, there's NO legal right for you to take a sob test. Police can request it, but you can legally refuse. Politely of course.
So arguing the case when I was given directive by an AUTHORITY on the topic, shows your ignorance of the law AND your rights.
However, you can't refuse a blood test.
What every truck driver should do though is stop listening and reading about false info and learn about the facts. I think I've just illustrated how many folks are clueless about what you need to do in a traffic stop. That also applies to illegal searches of vehicles without a warrant. You have to take responsibility of your own actions and stop the herd and sheep mentality. Knowledge is power, and don't you forget it.

 

Speaking from experience, shut up and take pictures, pictures, pictures.....50, 60, 70 of them. From every angle of every thing. You have to have the camera in the truck and it needs to have a flash with working batteries. You never know what that picture will show. Trust me on this.....they can save your arse.

 

What a crock. Saying "I'm sorry" to someone you've been involved in an accident with can and will be used as evidence that you claimed the accident was your fault. If you put your and your family's livelihood below some warped sense of "doing the right thing" then I highly doubt you know what doing the right thing involves. The right thing to do is keep your trap shut so you don't give attorneys anything they can use against you in a court of law.

 

when someone tells you their loved one died, it is customary to say "i'm sorry"

that does not imply you killed them

but you are offering condolences for heir suffering

you guys are buying into that safety mgr propaganda

 

Going back to the lecture in the video linked on the first page of this thread, this is exactly the scenario the lawyer noted is a problem in traffic accidents. If you say, "I'm sorry", then exactly WHAT did the other person hear? You can control what YOU say, but you can't control what someone else HEARS. Often that "I'm sorry" is heard as "He said it was his fault" and that is what the witness will testify to in court. Then it is your word against a witness and your chances of winning that argument in court will be up to the judge or the jury.

If you haven't yet watched the video it is well worth it. 45 minutes with about half the time presented by a criminal defense lawyer who is now a professor at law school and the other half presented by a police officer who is about to graduate from law school. Both of them agree that you should never talk to the police, there's NOTHING good that can come from it. Both of them agree that you should say NOTHING at a traffic accident.

 

Wrong. I sold insurance for ten years and have seen people burned by an innocent "I'm sorry". You don't seem to understand that attorneys look for anything and everything they can use against you in court. You also don't seem to understand that truck drivers are targets for lawsuits when accidents happen. Your intentions when offering an apology to someone after an accident won't amount to squat when the other side's attorney is painting you as the most irresponsible truck driver in the industry who admitted at the scene of the accident that it was his fault.

 

Most modern cellphones have cameras with flashes as well, so there's no real excuse to NOT get pics.

 

No, we're buying into the reality of Litigation Central. And the reality is, when most people see a big truck with a big name behind it, they go "cha-CHIIINNNGGG!!", and trot out the lawyers. And they (along with the cops) will do ANYTHING to make you look guilty.

If you want to say "my condolences", I think that expresses less guilt than "I'm sorry", but I still think they can twist it into your guilt. Better to just shut up and admit NOTHING.

 

Except that as soon as you take that first picture with your cellphone, the cellphone becomes evidence and you could have the phone taken away from you until after a trial. We were told never to use our cellphones for accident pictures, specifically for this reason. Also, because the phone then becomes a piece of evidence, everything on the phone is open for scrutiny.