Report crash for cash attempt?

[a]

I was in slow moving traffic on the motorway earlier, about 25mph in the morning rush hour. A Fiesta that was behind me overtook when the other lane was moving slightly faster... Then when he was right in front of me he swerved back into the lane I was in and immediately stamped on his brakes, coming to a complete halt.
Luckily I was quite 'switched on' at the time, and my car could outbrake his easily, so there was no contact made. After he "failed", he just sat there for about 5 seconds while traffic moved around us, and then he drove on.
There was nothing in front of him (I leave a fairly large gap, which he had moved into) so no reason at all for braking.

I have a hidden dashcam, which I'm guessing he wasn't counting on...
Is there any way to use the footage as evidence to report him, and will anything actually be done about it?

Edited by a on Wednesday 7th June 09:15

[eybic]

I don't think anything will be done really, he could say that a mouse ran out in front of him etc. etc. etc.

[xjay1337]

Upload the footage and share it with us

[AyBee]

Probably worth flagging just in case he manages it in due course!

[a]

xjay1337 said:

Upload the footage and share it with us

Haven't seen it yet. Hopefully it shows the situation clearly enough.
I've never actually had reason to look at footage from the camera before, it was just there "in case"... I'll have a look tonight and share here

[99dndd]

AyBee said:

Probably worth flagging just in case he manages it in due course!

This. He'll succeed one day so it would be good if there were multiple reports of him trying it.

[a]

99dndd said:

AyBee said:

Probably worth flagging just in case he manages it in due course!

This. He'll succeed one day so it would be good if there were multiple reports of him trying it.

Where? How? Do I just walk into a police station with the video? Can I report it online?

[ashleyman]

Don't under estimate how much space is on your memory card. I had similar once and by the time I'd driven home I'd over wrote the footage I wanted to save.

Yes you can report online, I think it depends where you are and what the local Police website will let you do. I would agree it's worth doing just in case they try to do it to someone else.

[Sheepshanks]

a said:

Then when he was right in front of me he swerved back into the lane I was in and immediately stamped on his brakes, coming to a complete halt.

Was he on his own?

[InitialDave]

Sheepshanks said:

Was he on his own?

Schrodinger's passengers? Number of people in the car is indeterminate until they fill in the claim form?

[a]

I couldn't see any passengers in the car, just the driver.

I do leave a larger than average gap in front of me when I'm in stop-start traffic (2 hours a day, 5 days a week ) and I let in anyone who wants to go in front of me. I've experienced other drivers who seem to take it personally and tailgate or act aggressively to try and get me to close the gap.
Maybe that had something to do with it, but I've never had someone do what he did before.

Hopefully the footage is OK and shows the number plate, etc. I'll post it here and find somewhere to report him, in case he is a serial crash-for-cash scammer...

[Charlie Hoskins]

Was he of 'mediterranean appearance' ?

[Sheepshanks]

a said:

I couldn't see any passengers in the car, just the driver.

Notwithstanding the earlier comment about extra people appearing on the claim form, a motorway, where there's a good chance the Highways Agency, or even the Police, will appear, isn't an obvious place to stage a crash-for-cash on your own.

My money would be on:

a said:

(I leave a fairly large gap, which he had moved into)

- he felt you were leaving too big a gap, so overtook you and moved into it. Then tried to make a point.

[anonymous-user]

Maybe he had a stroke immediately after pulling in front of you, but was just able to brake hard in panic. All symptoms then cleared up a few seconds later

[mac96]

280E said:

Maybe he had a stroke immediately after pulling in front of you, but was just able to brake hard in panic. All symptoms then cleared up a few seconds later

Are you calling OP a horse?

[anonymous-user]

mac96 said:

Are you calling OP a horse?

I have it on good authority...

[boxedin]

I suspect it'll the be large gap he'll not like or maybe you sit with your brake lights on whilst going nowhere.

Sounds like he got fed up sat behind you.

[a]

Just managed to see the video... It looks so undramatic in the clip

It has reminded me that when he was moving around me, I thought he looked a bit erratic so I slowed slightly - meaning that when he stamped his brakes there was enough distance between us that I only had to brake moderately.
But then he started moving again for a second - and then stamped them once again to come to a complete halt when I was closer behind.

I think I agree with posters above that it's likely aggression related. The point where it happened, traffic had just cleared up for half a minute before coming to a stop again... So he may have been pissed off that I let a gap open up in front of me rather than stick to the tail of the car in front.

Still, when he braked to a halt I wasn't far behind him, so he must have expected an impact - still a candidate for 'cash for crash' IMO.

[Davie_GLA]

Get the footage posted and let PH judge the severity. It's the only way.

[xjay1337]

Videos or it didn't happen