My Un-Accident
 

Maybe this is this guy's way to handle the recession....

I was carrying 650 pounds of stationary up the 580 freeway through Castro Valley towards Oakland and then to the Judicial Commission in San Francisco.

Traffic was moderate and I was tooling along at 64 MPH, on cruise control, in the number two of four lanes. No traffic in the left mirror and nothing visible in the right mirror.

ZIP! A black Mustang cut in front from the right, missing me by a few feet.

I had time to think; "Guess he wants to teach me a lesson. I wonder why?" Then, so close I couldn't see the license plate, he hit the brakes. I had time to think; " I wonder if he wants me to hit him?"

WHAM! I cruised right into him. I was on cruise control, you'll recall.

I recall him signaling me to follow him to the side of the freeway, as I put on the flashers, cleared, and moved right. As I did this I scribbled his license plate number; then as I parked I grabbed one cellphone and called 911, which put me through to the California Highway Patrol, and I reported what happened and requested an officer, then I used the Nextel phone to report in and tell my office to cancel the pick-up on my way and arrainge for someone to pick up my load if there was a time problem.

Meanwhile the agitated driver was signalling me to exit my truck and come to him. Then there was a tap on the window and a man handed me a note, stating he was a whitness. Maybe...the plot was thickening.

I got out and met the guy I'd hit, who, when I asked why he braked in front of me said the car in front of him braked and he had to, then he said, "you are at fault if you hit someone from behind."
Seemed to me like he was looking for money so I simply turned around and got back in my truck.

When the CHP arrived I suggested he take the information from the whitness, who had stayed, parked behind me, so he could be on his way, then he took my info and then talked top the Mustang driver. When he returned to me he said he had a little chat with the driver and pointed out that he "took away my cushion and it was impossible for me to keep from missing him." The Officer gave me a card with the case number and when I'd be able to go on-line and get the information.

He was talking to the guy as I left.

Strange day.

Scratched the bottom of the bumper of my pretty truck. Dammit!

Moral of the Story;
I'm sure this guy makes a living by getting people to hit him, then give him some cash to forget contacting Insurance companies, or worse making medical claims and all the rest. Keep an eye open in case someone does this to you.

passing on the right.....hmmm....interesting story....

I had someone try this about a month ago while I was driving a friend's 1 ton van. Guy cut me off, then came to a sudden, complete stop. Thankfully my EVOC training kicked in, and I was able to stop. I'm sure he saw a 1 ton van and figured it was a commercial vehicle, and well insured.


-Jay

Well the insurance companies do have a rule of thumb that if the front of your vehicle hits the rear of someone else's vehicle it is your fault. But that is just a starting point, and is subject to the accident report(s) and police report(s). Make sure that the conversation gets recorded just like you wrote below, the guy will probably wind up with some legal (criminal) problems.

-BC

I could testify to this... After the cop issued me the ticket I asked, "So if I didn't attempt to hit the brakes the accident could have been worse but it may not have been my fault."
The cop replied, "In theory, yea."

Which is why it was wonderful the witness waited to give his report.

Usually in scams like this they try to do it with several vehicles, and everyone involved gets a cut of the insurance money. Usually you would have the car you hit, a car that cuts them off, and a convenient "witness" that corroborates whatever the other party says. Also, the car that gets hit usually has many people in it, and they all file medical claims.

-Jay

ya or they go on either side of you so you cant swerve and car in front hits the brakes when you glance down or something

refresher defensive driving tips...

https://www.smith-system.com/

don't buy it, just look at the top, left corner: the five keys.

but there was an insurance scam (if you want to call it that) a few years back where the same thing would happen but it would be a van full of people.

these people were usually collected together for this reason and they would cut people off and slam the breaks...BOOM...then they would sue the insurance for medical bills, suffering, and so on.

they finally caught onto it as it happened more and more and several people confessed to being approached about doing this. the payouts were big as insurance companies didn't want to go to court and settled outside of court.

hopefully this witness that you had let the officer know what the real deal was. I really hope everything works out for you.

Some people just suck. I had someone try to make a right hand turn from the left hand lane next to me. Insurance is still trying to sort it out as the guy is insisting that he was in my lane and I was trying to pass him on the shoulder. Now he supposedly has a couple witnesses to corroborate his story, even though there is no shoulder where the accident happened.

Yet another reason to ride a bicycle.

Japan has the same kind of scam. There are underground organizations that pull this kind of stuff off here. Some people debate their existence, which may be testament to just how powerful and big they actually are.

All of the above is why, in spite of their saying to 'exchange information' it is a good idea to have a police report. They have to analyze the accident in the report.

i wonder if he is found guilty in this, a criminal act, if you could sue him beyond your vehicle claim?

or maybe the state could? someone should in my view, to discourage such acts.

Dear Shatto,

I was pleased that you didn't want to discuss the accident out there on 580 because I, too, wanted to give the CHP my own story without influence by you or the Mustang driver.

When I had finished telling the officer my story, he thanked me and sent me on my way without giving me a witness card.

My wife has been in a couple of accidents where there were no witnessesand the other driver lied about what happened.

I now make a point of stopping whenever I have a clear view of an accident.

I'm glad I stopped.
Yours truly, Robert


*****My Email to the witness:

Robert,

Thanks for stopping the other day and staying to give your report to the CHP.

I appreciate it, especially since the first words out of the mouth of the Mustang driver were; "when you rear-end somebody, it is your fault."

I made a point of not talking to either of you because I wanted the officer to get the story straight from the lips of each of us, and he did.

I blog on a number of websites and the response to this story got overwhelming response, a number of people relating their own similar tales.
More than one reflected that, if they were to re-live the event there would be great body and vehicular damage inflicted upon the perpetrator.

What comes around does indeed go around; so you are sure to have your good deed repaid, maybe even if your stopping for me was in repayment for someone else doing you a good turn.

I'm curious, did the officer give you a card so you could follow up on the case?

Again, thanks.
Shatto.

shatto,

did you ever hear anything back from the guy that cut you off?

did the police or insurance company contact you?

was there any follow up or was it a case of each of you take care of your own damage?

just curious of how this one ended up.

I'll keep y'all apprised of the situation.