Economy down, fake crashes up

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Sunday, 14. December 2008

You think you've got space but then, from nowhere, a car appears on front of you and slows rapidly. You can't avoid hitting it. Your day has changed abruptly and for the worse, and how much worse can depend greatly on what you do next.

Invariably, when you hit someone from behind it's your fault. To prove otherwise you would have to be able to demonstrate that the collision was due to circumstances beyond your control, and this can be very difficult.

This rule of blame is behind the vast majority of fake crash scams, and the scams range from the very minor fender bender to elaborate setups. There are four main types, according to the The Accident Reconstruction Network, a web portal for crash investigators:

staged accidents in which the drivers intentionally collide;
caused accidents in which the criminal involves you in a wreck that is made to look like your fault;
auto repair shop fraud by billing for unperformed work or charging to replace parts that were merely repaired; and
faked accident reports.

At the minor end of the scale it may be the opportunist driver who looks in the rear view mirror and gets a close-up view of a likely victim. A little unexpected braking could produce a dent that would net an on-the-spot settlement of perhaps a few hundred dollars (the dent might not even be a new one). At the other end it might be a gang of conspirators who deliberately set up a crash, perhaps with the intent of obtaining large insurance settlements for faked injuries.

Then there's the scam of opportunity, as in the case of the InsuranceFraud.org's case of the month

Pennsylvania State Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce claimed he was so badly injured in a 2001 auto accident that he could no longer play golf, scuba dive or swim. He accepted a total of $440,000 from insurance companies, which he is alleged to have spent on a house, a new Harley Davidson motorcycle and a private plane, among other things.

After the minor auto crash which he claimed changed his life, Joyce underwent physiotherapy until he received the money, then resumed normal living, according to reports.

He was found guilty in November of two counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering.

Gang involvement

Fleet safety specialist Dr Will Murray reckons many of the fake collision scams are carried out by gangs.

"Gang members," says Murray, who is Research Director for U.K.-based Interactive Driving Systems, "either purchase and insure low value vehicles or use hired vehicles and then force innocent members of the public to crash into them. By inducing an innocent driver to collide with them, the fraudsters can rely on an almost automatic acceptance of insurance liability."

According to insurers, says Dr. Murray, the average insurance bill per induced collision is 25-30k. ($37-$45k). He cites three classes of common scams which, he says are often targeted at commercial vehicles in the UK:

Roundabouting: A fraudster disconnects their brake lights and drives around busy roundabouts/slip roads looking for victims. Once a victim is selected, the fraudster drives 2-3 metres in front of the target and brakes sharply (sometimes an accomplice in another vehicle will distract the victim, with their horn or flashing headlamps, to help facilitate the crash).

Roundabout Shunt: Fraudster stops at a busy roundabout and waits for a potential victim to pull in behind. The fraudster then pulls quickly onto the roundabout, but stops 2-3 metres in. The potential victim's attention will be focussed on checking for traffic emerging from roundabout to their right, as they themselves pull onto the roundabout. Consequently, they are unlikely to be aware of the stationary vehicle directly in front of them until after a collision has become inevitable.

The Russian Method : As a slight variation on the scam, the vehicle in front of you may slam on its brakes when a third vehicle overtakes at speed and then cuts in for no obvious reason. In fact, the overtaking vehicle may be part of an organised 'tag team' who are colluding in order to provide a cover story as to why the vehicle ahead braked quickly. In North America this scheme is known as the "squat and swoop."

Murray suggests drivers be alert for tell-tale signs that might indicate other drivers are thinking of foul play. These include: passengers in the car ahead paying undue attention to you; Vehicles navigating roundabouts several times; driver of the vehicle with which you have just collided being suspiciously well prepared; witnesses appearing from nowhere; brake lights that didn't illuminate; drivers that don't stop on the scene but return on foot.

How to avoid crash scams

Naturally, the number one defense against being scammed is alertness and defensive driving. If you can't stop when the car ahead jams on its brakes then you're too close. The two-second following distance rule you learned in driver education class is not enough. It's a minimum for perception of the problem, reaction time and actual braking time. There's no margin of safety there. Three to four seconds is recommended.

Your alertness should extend beyond the cars immediately close to you. In other words, you should notice if a car is about to "swoop in" ahead of the vehicle in front of you. It's not easy to maintain this kind of alertness. It takes extensive self-training. And at the very least, this kind of driving leaves you less prone to the "came from nowhere" kind of collision in which you have no idea what circumstances led up to it.

When a crash occurs be prepared. In the confusion its easy to forget or ignore critical details. Have a check list in your car. Also, a cheap disposable camera is a valuable addition to your glove compartment. This can collect the kind of information you would never think of in the heat of the moment.

Again, never admit liability on the scene, no matter how convinced you are the crash was your fault. That doesn't mean that you deny liability either. If the crash was genuine this can infuriate the driver who is an actual victim.

Don't argue with the other driver. An angry altercation is very unlikely to change their mind and you may also be helping them develop their story of how the crash happened. Stay calm and collect information.

Ask witnesses to give you contact information. It doesn't mean they have to wind up in court (lots of people hate that and will deny seeing anything if they think they will automatically have to find time to defend you in a court case. Drivers who are attempting to scam will usually back off if there are witnesses against them.

Draw on your resources: police, collision reporting centers, crash investigators, insurance adjusters, witnesses.

RESOURCES OF NOTE

Coalition against Insurance Fraud: Consumer information, scam alerts, reporting, how scams work, what to watch for.

State of Connecticut Insurance Department:How to spot, avoid and report suspected auto collision fraud

Search for a crash investigation expert: Damage to the vehicles, their positions and marks on the roadway can tell a story to a qualified professional.

Findng the crashes of the future: One expert reveals how he investigated Ted Kennedy's crash at Chappaquiddick