Not all accidents are truly, fully accidental. In any accident situation, there's incentive to deny anything and avoid fault, especially if the fault isn't clear. In some cases, you may be the victim of a criminal ring that knows how to make any collision look like an accident--and how to siphon you for your money before moving to the next victim. If something doesn't seem right about how you were unable to avoid your accident, or if you're dealing with someone who won't admit fault, here's an overview of car accident fraud and how to defend yourself.

Intentional Collision Scams

There isn't much to say about someone who just wants to lie their way out of an accident. It's expensive to be at fault, and anything after that fact is just incidental flavor for the story. The bigger problem to understand is the growing number of criminal groups who cause accidents to commit fraud.

With techniques such as the Swoop and Squat, organized crime groups are able to stage a convincing accident that puts you at fault. The details vary, but it's all about making you do something that would seem illegal by the damage on your vehicle and the direction of traffic. 

In some cases, multiple cars will try to box you into a position behind a car that will intentionally slam on their brakes. In other situations, a car may intentionally drive erratically to force you into the wrong lane--and into another car that suddenly drives into what looks like the right of way. In any situation, it's about making you rear end another vehicle or make a turn into the wrong lane.

Defending Yourself Against Fraud

Tracking down accident fraud can be difficult except for the most unorganized perpetrators, but you need to cover the incompetent attempts as well. Find out if the other driver has a history of getting into accidents, and suggest fraud as the cause.

Some organizations may employ new drivers for every scam, either through direct recruiting or extorting others. The other driver may not have a lot of accident history, but your legal team may be able to get more information by interviewing the other driver or looking through the career history of the lawyer for potentially shady activities that could identify fraud support.

If you haven't been in an accident yet, but have noticed such scams in your area, a dashboard camera or dash cam can help. These devices can record the accident and will shed some light onto your situation. Most of the fraud situations depend on the other cars involved being away from the scene and pretending that you were simply driving too close, but showing the situation can get you out of most of the trouble.

In such situations, don't let criminals know that you have a dash cam. If they're organized enough to pull you into a scam--or desperate enough to lie--they may be willing to attack you and/or destroy the evidence.

Contact a car accident attorney, such as at Carter & Fulton, P.S., to get help in potentially fraudulent accident situations, and to get advice on installing and using a dash cam for legal protection.