Lessons for a defendant: Top 10 things not to do if you crash into someone and hurt them

Here are real life examples of dumb things people do after they hit someone with their vehicle.

10. Stay put in your vehicle and call your boss before you do anything else.  Give them  the bad news without getting out to see if the person you hit is injured or even still alive.

9. Get out and hide behind your truck because blood makes you sick and you can’t bear   to look over at it.

8. Quickly hang up the cell phone and pretend you weren’t on it.  (Cel phone companies keep records of your calls)

7. Yell and swear at the hurt person.  Yeah.  That always helps.

6. Get a broom out of the back of your truck and start sweeping up debris before the police arrive.  Also known as tampering with the evidence.

5. Lie to the officer about whether you have insurance.  Hello – as soon as someone calls that company you’ll be outed anyway. (And turned into Department of Motor Vehicles).

4. Lie to the officer about what happened.  Especially when there are multiple eye witnesses.

3. Don’t call or visit them in the hospital to see how they’re doing.

2. Don’t send a condolence card to surviving family members.

1.  Keep driving so you can toss the empty beer cans out before the police arrive.

Here's what happens if you do these dumb things:  a) you get caught and then get in even bigger trouble; b) your bad behavior is so offensive that even someone who doesn't like lawsuits will sue you.

Photo:  The driver of this car blamed the girl she hit for wearing dark clothes as she walked across the street in a marked crosswalk.