Possible crash for cash caught on Camera!

[DogCam]

Morning All,

Hope you don't mind me posting this here but we got on the news last night (it was only Channel 5 so you probably didn't see it!) hopefully on Sky News tonight.

Two people arrested, police think they've busted a massive ring and wouldn't surprise us if they get custodial sentences.

Full story here: Sky News Link

Full video here: crash for cash video

Not sure how long we'll be able to host the video though.

Cheers,

Mark.

[E36GUY]

Worst blatent product plug ever

[DogCam]

Shame on me..... It is a bit newsworthy though!

[Fume troll]

"We believe this to be a decoy rear end shunt in which two cars are involved. When the lorry driver pulls in to the left hand lane the Mercedes closes the gap between itself and the car in front. The VW Golf makes a sudden turn causing the Merc to brake hard. We think the Golf is used as a decoy to give the Merc the excuse of having to stop quickly"."

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

Cheers,

FT.

[petrolsniffer]

'Insurance companies are now offering big inducements to their customers to fit good technology which gathers video evidence of potential fraud'

Intresting I hope these systems get cheaper and make the claim process much quicker and clearer

[heebeegeetee]

Wow, that's not an obvious 'crash for cash' incident to me, were both cars involved in it?

[DogCam]

Fume troll said:

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

Cheers,

FT.

It's all speculation at the moment but have a look at the operation catcher press release. In my opinion, the Merc could have done a much better job of avoiding that Golf.

[teen_cerbera]

Fume troll said:

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

From this video I think its pretty obvious the Golf is involved, IMO the Mercedes could have easily manouvered around the Golf avoiding the need to stop. I would be fuming if I was in that position as its clearly a set up.

Even though its a plug, brilliant video.

[rpguk]

Other then the fact it's a bunch of Eastern Europeans I don't see anything to suggest it's a crash for cash.

1 - The golf seems to be responsible and it looks like he's missed his lane and then cut in.

2 - The chaps are no doubt all for payouts but getting a lorry to smash into the back of you like that. There are easier ways to feign whiplash then getting a lorry to smash you quite badly. To be fair there's a fair chance they actually did get whiplash.

3 - They are using a nice enough merc. Might be a hire car, but seems like they went to more expense then necessary.

So, yeah not as clear cut as I might have expected from their tone.

Edited by rpguk on Wednesday 3rd November 09:11

[anonymous-user]

Doesn't look 100% certain to me. Dodgy manouvre by the Golf but the Merc driver could've been genuinely caught out there

[teen_cerbera]

rpguk said:

Other then the fact it's a bunch of Eastern Europeans I don't see anything to suggest it's a crash for cash and the Road Hawk people want to be careful about the accusations they make.

1 - The golf seems to be responsible and it looks like he's missed his lane and then cut in.

2 - The chaps are no doubt all for payouts but getting a lorry to smash into the back of you like that. There are easier ways to feign whiplash then getting a lorry to smash you quite badly. To be fair there's a fair chance they actually did get whiplash.

3 - They are using a nice enough merc. Might be a hire car, but seems like they went to more expense then necessary.

So, yeah not as clear cut as I might have expected from their tone.

• Any car can pass that without invading the outer lane
• The Mercedes is a "safe car", eradicates suspision? and they will get money for it anyway
• Very Very convenient place.
• The two guys didnt look at all phased by it, I would be shaking like a leaf
• Why stop, the Golf was long gone before the MB came to a stand still, speaking of that, it didnt look like a last minute/hesitant decision from the Golf, even though he appeared to leave it late, he seems to know exactly where hes going.

[TonyHetherington]

Hmmmmm.

Ok let's look at this another way. Someone pulling in front of you into your braking space, and braking hard with no brake lights. That's understandable hitting them.

No matter what, in this instance the lorry wasn't far enough behind the car in front and so went into him.

The actions of the cars in front do look dodgy, and the actions/demeanour of the people that get out even more so. But I would suggest many people would (perhaps incorrectly) do something similar - car in front brakes and dives off, they have to emergency brake and do so to a stop, probably hand on horn shouting expletives at the car that just made them do that.

[Fume troll]

teen_cerbera said:

Fume troll said:

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

From this video I think its pretty obvious the Golf is involved, IMO the Mercedes could have easily manouvered around the Golf avoiding the need to stop.

Not so obvious to me; there is a white van alongside him, and then a black CRV looking thing in lane 2 both of which prevent him changing lanes. Added to which his rear view would have been restricted by the lorry. So it could be that changing lanes wouldn't have been too safe, so he came to a stop and the lorry didn't follow suit.

The only odd thing I can see is the way the blue car moves to the inside of L1.

I'm not claiming to be right, I'm just saying it doesn't appear to be that clear to me.

Cheers,

FT.

[iAlex]

Looks a little dodgy but it may just be that the foreigners in the Merc iz crap drivers innit.

[LeoSayer]

If it is a crash for cash scam then it's a very good one. All 3 vehicles involved should share some of the blame.

The Golf obviously for last minute braking and manuevring.

The Merc for driving far too close behind the Golf

The lorry driving for not slowing down and maintaining the gap when the cars in front were slowing down. I do have most sympathy for the lorry driver, he didn't really stand a chance.

[Fume troll]

DogCam said:

Fume troll said:

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

Cheers,

FT.

It's all speculation at the moment but have a look at the operation catcher press release. In my opinion, the Merc could have done a much better job of avoiding that Golf.

Just read that. Does match doesn't it?

Cheers,

FT.

[TonyHetherington]

Fume troll said:

DogCam said:

Fume troll said:

How would one determine that it was a decoy rather than a numpty missing his junction and another car slowing to avoid him?

Cheers,

FT.

It's all speculation at the moment but have a look at the operation catcher press release. In my opinion, the Merc could have done a much better job of avoiding that Golf.

Just read that. Does match doesn't it?

Blimey - it's exact!

[Fume troll]

LeoSayer said:

I do have most sympathy for the lorry driver, he didn't really stand a chance.

So do I, but he certainly had a chance. If that merc had just suddenly stopped in the road for e.g. a child or a deer or something, he'd have been expected to avoid it. The gap between him and the merc is closing for quite a time before the impact.

Tough one perhaps, but not hopeless by any means.

Cheers,

FT.

[teen_cerbera]

Fume troll said:

Not so obvious to me; there is a white van alongside him, and then a black CRV looking thing in lane 2 both of which prevent him changing lanes.

But as my caption shows, you could easily pass it without entering the outside lane. The driving leading upto the crash certainly didnt look like that of someone who was under confident on the road. If he was so flustered that he had to stop dead on a dual, he certainly wouldnt dive out the car waving his arms after being hit.

They all seemed very calm and "going through the motions" when they got out of the car. Would all 3 people really get out that quickly? All three were out within 2 or 3 seconds of the car coming to a stop in what appears to be a safe place.

I love a good debate

[hornetrider]

teen_cerbera said:

Fume troll said:

Not so obvious to me; there is a white van alongside him, and then a black CRV looking thing in lane 2 both of which prevent him changing lanes.

But as my caption shows, you could easily pass it without entering the outside lane. The driving leading upto the crash certainly didnt look like that of someone who was under confident on the road. If he was so flustered that he had to stop dead on a dual, he certainly wouldnt dive out the car waving his arms after being hit.

They all seemed very calm and "going through the motions" when they got out of the car. Would all 3 people really get out that quickly? All three were out within 2 or 3 seconds of the car coming to a stop in what appears to be a safe place.

I love a good debate

Your caption is somewhat misleading as the Merc is almost stationary at that point, and had to come to a stop because of the Golf.