Car accidents are unavoidably rampant. To take advantage of bleeding-edge technology, we must bead with the disadvantages, in this case, car accidents. But what do you do if you accidentally bump someone’s car with no visible damage?
If you tap someone’s car, you should always leave a note with your contact information even if there’s no visible damage. Some states require you to report all accidents to the police, while others only mandate reports of accidents involving injuries. The best option is to contact a car accident attorney to help determine the next step.
In this article, you’ll learn when you’re required to report car accidents. Also, you’ll learn what to do in most minor accident situations, including those involving minor injury.
Can You Bump a Car Without Damage?
If you accidentally bumped a car at a very low speed, there usually will be no visible damage. However, the absence of any physical damage doesn’t mean no damage was done to the vehicle.
While it’s possible to bump a car without dealing any damage, it’s generally safer to leave contact information, at least. Also, you should take pictures of the vehicle after the accident and make a report to your insurance company.
Also, some states require you to report an accident, even if there’s no visible damage or injury. The vast majority of states, however, only mandate drivers to report accidents that involve an injury or result in damages exceeding a certain amount.
If you assume that no damage was done to the car, and you leave the scene without leaving your contact information at least, you will be found, arrested, and charged with hit-and-run if any significant damage was discovered later.
If you’ve already left an accident scene after tapping someone’s car, you should contact an attorney for legal advice. If you’re very cooperative, you shouldn’t be getting a criminal sentence, which is possible for drivers who don’t take responsibility for accidents they cause.
What Do You Do If You Tap Someone’s Car Without Damage?
It’s common knowledge that most car accidents are simply minor taps that deal little or no damage to any vehicle involved. However, should you ignore a car without any visible damage after an incident?
Many variables will determine the ideal next move after getting involved in a minor accident. Mostly, these variables are related to the details of the accident, but they can also depend on the specific laws of your state.
Firstly, it’s generally a bad idea to estimate the extent of a car’s damage by just looking at the physical damage done. Sometimes, cars involved in an accident sustain far more damage than there appeared to be at first sight.
With that being said, what you should do if you tap someone’s car without any visible damage depends on whether there are any drivers or passengers in the car.
If there are no passengers in the car, there mightn’t have been any injury, unless you’ve injured yourself. In this case, you may not be required to report the accident right away. Again, it depends on the specific laws of your jurisdiction.
You should drop your contact details in this situation, in case the damage was way more than you estimated. Since it’s the law to report damages costing above a certain amount, the owner of the vehicle may have cause to contact you in the future.
In addition to dropping your contact details, you should also take pictures and videos of the car after the accident and make a report to your insurance company. If you skip this step, you might have to foot the bill if the damage was way more than you expected.
On the other hand, if there were people present in the car by the time of the damage, you should confirm if anyone was injured. If there’s an injury, you should call 911 or the appropriate authorities for help immediately.
If there are no injuries, try talking to the driver of the other vehicle to exchange contact information. Also, you should document the accident by taking pictures and videos to report to your insurance company.
While it may seem way easier to skip the step of reporting to your insurance company, it’s way riskier. If the damages turn out to exceed what you can resolve amicably, your insurance company may refuse to foot the bill, an outcome that wouldn’t have happened if you reported immediately after the accident.
Depending on the laws of your state, you may have to report every accident to the police, regardless of the severity. If your local laws don’t state that explicitly, following the above advice will generally keep you on the safe side of the law.
It’s important to note that regardless of how minor the incident looks, you should always try to exchange contact information with the other driver. If they’re not willing to do so, you may have to call the police before taking any other step.
Is It an Accident If There’s No Damage?
Most drivers generally overlook accidents when there is no visible injury or damage to any vehicle. This is generally a bad idea, and you should attempt to report an accident as soon as it happened.
Even if there is no physical injury or damage, you may discover some damages after the fact that resulted from the accident. And, contrary to what you may think, it’s possible to injure someone without any visible damage to the car.
If law enforcement and/or the victim’s lawyer can prove that an injury resulted from the accident, you will be liable for the injury, even if nothing happened to the vehicle itself. In this case, you may end up incurring more costs if you didn’t report to your insurance company right away.
If you believe you aren’t responsible for the injury, you can hire a car accident lawyer to defend you. These lawyers can give you location-specific advice, as they’re usually well-versed in laws relating to car accidents.