PSA: Staged Car Accidents. I thought everyone knew this.

[Cerridwen]

I thought I'd bring this link here and the information contained within because it appears not everyone knows about this. BTW, PSA means Public Service Announcement. TV used to bring those to us on a regular basis. Yes, I am showing my age.

How To Handle Staged Car Accidents

<snip to>

Staged Car Accident Tricks

Believe it or not, there are actually sound-minded people who conduct elaborate rehearsals before perpetrating actual staged auto accidents. Consequently, these con artists are extremely efficient at what they do. <Note from Cerridwen: no, I don't think they're "sound-minded.">

To improve your awareness of these carefully choreographed accidents, the following are some of the most common staged-accident scenarios:

<snip to names of scenarios only>

The T-Bone Accident

The Wave

False Endorsement

<go to link for>

Tips for Avoiding Staged Car Accident Scams

I was born and grew up in the city of scams and lousy drivers, aka Las Vegas, NV.

Drivers from all over the world come here. I used to work for a car rental. The question I was asked from European drivers was, "is this reverse?" on the 3rd floor of the parking garage. No, it was not reverse. US vehicles are/were geared differently than European vehicles. ("Stick" shift) Oof duh!

Aside from the lousy drivers from all over the world part, there are also a lot of scams and just plain loathsome people who will try to scam the insurance industry and those who will use it to "pick a fight." I've seen and known both.

Check out the link. Defensive driving is more than just watching all the cars around you.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Thanks for posting. There is no duty to stay at the scene of an accident if you are in fear.

If, for example, a pack of bikers surrounds your car and then one gets right in front of you and slams on the brakes to make you stop...

Do NOT stay there to find out if they are suddenly going to decide to behave normally.

Get the hell out, try not to run anyone over but if you don't have a choice and it's the provocateurs who are in your way, do what you have to do.

Travel on, call 911, hope that a trooper sees you, avoid getting stuck in traffic or, heaven forbid, at a toll booth!

K/R

[Cerridwen]

5. Thank you, NYC_SKP.

That thread was quite an eye-opener.

I thought "everyone" knew of these scams and schemes. It appeared that was not the case so I wanted to make sure as many as who read it would have a little more information.

I'm single (as defined by law) and female. I have had to spend my life making sure I didn't get myself blamed for my "ignorance," that is, having a situational awareness that would make most jealous. If something happened to me, it would be my "fault" so I had to make sure I avoided any "fault" whatsoever. My dad damned near beat that into me (not metaphorically speaking).

[KentuckyWoman]

2. kick and rec

Good info

[Cerridwen]

6. Thanks, KentuckyWoman.

Funny/strange/interesting you should reply.

We are looking to settle/retire in either Oregon or Kentucky. It has to do with seasons and with horses.

Thank you for the kick and the rec.

[cemaphonic]

3. These scams are why youtube has hours of insane Russian dashcam videos.

I guess everyone caught wise to three-card-monte, so now lowlife assholes have to endanger everyone's safety while they try ripping them off.

[Cerridwen]

4. Cons, i.e., confidence schemes

have apparently been around as long as there have been sociopathic/psychopathic humans on this planet.

Any technology, autos, internet, snail mail, phones, fund raising, charity, "religion," etc. are useful for purposes of "committing man's inhumanity toward man."

Until we "bleach" that type of pathology out of our gene pool, we're stuck dealing with it. (It's a metaphor for the metaphor challenged.)

[REP]

7. A version of the swoop and squat, using two predator cars, is common

The one in back tailgates aggressively, trying to get the target to speed up. If the target does, the predator car in front slams on the brakes. Be aware of older cars with a lot of passengers in front or behind you - especially if you drive a newer and/or upscale car. Best defense against this is to SLOW DOWN and get away from them as quickly as possible (turning into a public place if at all possible).

[Cerridwen]

8. "Delmas on the brakes"?

From context that means hitting the brakes for nefarious purposes.

Did I get that right?

[REP]

9. No. Autocorrect on a new phone. Slams on the brakes.

[Cerridwen]

10. LMAO.

Thank you! I needed a laugh.

Well, the context was somewhat correct. Seriously, my dog is looking at me as though I've gone 'round the bend...again.

LMAO

[Art_from_Ark]

11. I might have been the victim of a staged accident

As part of my orientation when I first came to Japan, I was told to be wary about "atariya", or people who intentionally cause traffic accidents for insurance money. Just 2 months after I got my first car, I was on a main road approaching a minor intersection. Some gal who was stopped at a stop sign on the little cross street suddenly darted in front of me, and there was no way to avoid hitting her car on the passenger side. Her car was a high-end sedan, while mine was just an ordinary hatchback. Her family came out to the accident scene, and her father maintained that I was responsible for the accident, and that I should pay for the "$4000 worth of damage" done to the passenger door. Their car was "more valuable" than mine, the father insisted, and even though his daughter was clearly at fault (although he did not admit it), my car was "worth so little" that given Japan's "no one's 100% to blame" car-on-car accident law, I would still end up paying them more for their damage than they would pay me for my damage, which was total.

[Cerridwen]

12. Truth, fiction, and all that.

I think one of the first times I read/saw this in fiction was an episode of M.A.S.H. the television version in which Koreans "faked" being hit by a car in order to receive money from the "US Government."

That it's still going on shows the depravity and desperation of some people.

My experience was that a well connected woman slammed into my car and used her connections to intimidate my insurance company. But that was in the US.