ATLANTA — A car accident, that turns out is no accident at all. The schemes can be elaborate, involving multiple people working together to cause a collision and then pursue insurance claims and lawsuits. The drivers who intentionally cause the crashes have even earned a name: “slammers.”
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray investigated how the so-called “crash for cash” schemes work and why trucking companies say the costs ultimately get passed along to consumers.
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Dash camera video from one case along Camp Creek Parkway in South Fulton County shows a car driving erratically and weaving through traffic.
“The car’s already missing the bumper from a previous accident,” attorney Blair Cash said.
Seconds later, the driver can be seen slowing down even though traffic ahead appears to be moving freely.
“At that point, it was like he was trying to play chicken with my driver,” Turner transportation owner Brittani Amerson said.
The semi driver repeatedly tries to adjust to the car before the driver in front hits the brakes.
“He’s slamming on brakes to intentionally cause an accident,” Cash said.
Police determined the truck driver was at fault at the scene. The driver of the car later filed a lawsuit seeking damages and payment for medical bills.
The truck is owned by Turner Transportation, a father-and-daughter Georgia business.
“To say this is disturbing, you know, would be an understatement,” owner John Turner said.
“It’s not an accident anymore. It’s an opportunity,” he continued.
Turner Transportation said the driver sent multiple legal threat letters from different attorneys. The dispute stretched on for two years before the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed, leaving the trucking company with legal expenses despite having video of the collision.
“He wanted over a million dollars for something that he caused himself on purpose,” Amerson said.
The consequences can extend far beyond the trucking company involved.
“Our bottom line gets affected tremendously by it, and the customer, it ends up coming back to them,” turner said.
Another video that’s gone viral on social media shows a driver backing into a vehicle to cause a collision.
This year, attorneys in Louisiana were found guilty in federal court in connection with an elaborate crash-for-cash scheme involving more than 60 people.
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The scheme involved hiring so-called slammers to cause collisions and then filing lawsuits against trucking companies and their insurers.
“They’re hoping you cut them a check to make them go away,” Cash said.
Cash has represented trucking companies fighting claims involving bogus crashes. He said the costs can ultimately reach consumers.
“When the trucking company has to pay for more insurance, then they have to increase their rates, then have to go to their customers, and it just passes down to the consumer on down the line, and we all feel it,” Cash said.
Trucking companies are increasingly turning to dash cameras to provide evidence of what actually happened during a collision.
The video can provide evidence beyond conflicting accounts from the drivers involved.
“If our guys are doing what they’re supposed to do, then it’ll save us,” Amerson said.
Even when lawsuits involving alleged staged crashes are dismissed or thrown out, the people accused of intentionally causing them rarely face criminal charges.
There is an effort in Congress to change that.
Outgoing Georgia Congressman Mike Collins introduced the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, which would create specific criminal penalties for people who stage vehicle collisions, as well as attorneys, physicians and other co-conspirators involved in the schemes.
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