I tapped someone at a red light and now I'm terrified they're faking injuries

I was on the other side of a very similar situation — I was the one tapped at a light, and I promise you not everyone is faking. I actually did have some pre-existing neck stuff that got aggravated. That said, the claim got settled through insurance without any lawsuit. A lot of these things resolve without ever going to court, even when attorneys get involved early.

Worked in claims for years. Low-speed impacts with soft tissue injury claims are incredibly common and they are also genuinely complicated to evaluate. Soft tissue injuries don't always show up on imaging but they can be real. That said, the severity of the impact absolutely gets factored in during negotiations. Your insurer will likely pull an accident reconstruction estimate based on the damage, and that matters. Don't assume you're automatically on the hook for big money just because someone hired a lawyer.

Not legal advice, but — your insurance company has a duty to defend you up to your policy limits. That means they pay for the attorney, they handle the negotiation, you don't go it alone. Where personal exposure can happen is if a judgment exceeds your limits and the insurer is found to have acted in bad faith by refusing a reasonable settlement offer. That's a specific scenario, not the automatic outcome. If you're genuinely worried, a free consult with a personal injury attorney (from your side) can clarify your real risk.

Just want to add — low-speed collisions can cause real pain, especially in people who already have spinal issues they didn't know about. I'm not saying this person is being honest, I genuinely don't know, but "it was barely a tap" and "they couldn't possibly be hurt" aren't always the same thing. Bodies are weird. That said, the degree of claimed injury should be proportionate to the mechanism, and that's what medical reviewers and attorneys look at.

Stop Googling worst-case scenarios at midnight. Seriously. Call your insurance company, confirm they've assigned a claims adjuster, confirm they're providing a defense attorney if it goes that far, and then step back and let the process work. You carrying stress about this every day won't change the outcome one bit.

Did you actually document the damage at the scene? Photos? Because if you have timestamped photos showing minimal or no damage, that's going to be really important. Also — was there actually no police report at all? That could matter too. Just asking because 'it was a tiny tap' is easy to say but evidence is what actually counts.

I'd be freaking out too, honestly. This sounds so stressful and unfair. I hope your insurance company steps up and handles this the way they're supposed to. You paid your premiums for exactly this reason.

A couple of practical things: first, don't talk to the other driver or their attorney directly — route everything through your insurance. Second, write down everything you remember about the incident right now while it's relatively fresh — your speed, road conditions, what was said, what you observed about the other driver's behavior afterward. You may need that later and memory fades fast.