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My car insurance tells me to never apologize even if it is my fault because that can be equated with admission of guilt. I imagine Doctors are told the same in
by mkaziz 11y ago
My car insurance tells me to never apologize even if it is my fault because that can be equated with admission of guilt. I imagine Doctors are told the same in regard to malpractice suits.
- s0rce 11y agoIn Ontario and apology is not an admission of guilt: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09a03 https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/09a03 Seems like a good idea.
- acveilleux 11y agoAs a fellow canadian, given how often we apologize when it's clearly not our fault, this only makes sense.
- Joof 11y agoThis is a fault in US law if I heard properly. Its also horribly misaligned with getting appropriate results both financially and socially.
- URSpider94 11y agoProbably, and yes. In the US, you can tell when a business has well and truly screwed you when you hear, "I'm sorry, all further communications will have to be through our attorney."
- riahi 11y agoThis is true. We are told not to apologize. Institutions sometimes have funds to compensate patients with errors, but they don't typically admit fault per se. In our current legal setting, admission of fault means uncapped potential for damages hat can ruin anyone's ability to ever practice again.
- kbenson 11y agoPart of the problem seems to be that some people (me included), use "Sorry" to sometimes mean "I'm sorry for what has happening to you", not "I'm sorry I caused this problem", but it can be construed as the latter in court. Using this ambiguous construct when, at some point, someone is going to look to see if there's a way to assign blame, is not wise. If the purpose is to express sympathy, there are less ambiguous ways to do so. ("This/that sucks.", "I feel for you", etc.)
- mikeash 11y agoThat's because you might think you're at fault, but actually not be. Or you might truly be at fault, but in a way that can't be proven. And there might be a huge amount of money at stake, if someone is injured and requires extensive medical treatment. None of that applies here. Tesla is clearly at fault, actual damages are basically zero (the guy got his money back, at least), and making it right will be pretty cheap, if Tesla actually decides to do so.
- mkaziz 11y agoI don't disagree with you; my response was to parent's comment about doctors who apologize.
- mikeash 11y agoI see, I didn't quite connect the dots there. Well, if anybody cares about why I think insurance companies might say that, there it is....
- mkaziz 11y agoI don't disagree with you; my response was to parent's comment about doctors who apologize.
- hamburglar 11y agoI've had a claims agent directly tell me that this absolutist advice is a myth, especially if it's truly obvious that you're at fault. This is because apologizing can reduce the likelihood that the other party sues, which means that if you're probably going to lose, it can actually help.