NHP: Staged Crashes now Involve Semi Trucks

Many people are apprehensive when it comes to passing a speeding semi truck while driving down the highway. Others, however, are swerving in front of them and causing accidents on purpose!

It’s becoming a new trend in staged accidents that is not only putting lives in danger, but driving up insurance costs: it involves cars swerving in front of semitrailers to deliberately get them to rear-end their vehicle.

According to KLAS-TV and Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) troopers, this kind of staged accident is now a growing problem.

On February 26^th, the NHP and the Nevada Insurance Council teamed up to film a public service announcement at a trucking company. Its purpose was not only to warn drivers about the up-charge in insurance fraud, but to warn those committing the crimes that tractor-trailers can’t stop as quickly as an ordinary car and the driver or passengers could be seriously injured.

One area trucker, Bret Chastain, spends most of his time on the road in his 18-wheeler; a lot of the time trying to avoid cars.

He said, “Cars cut us off all the time.” He also added that he wasn’t aware of a new kind of insurance fraud involving tractor-trailers and cars. Hopefully he stays unaware.

“You have 60 tons of truck and cargo and if they want to stop in front of a truck and hit them, there’s no way that truck’s going to stop,” Chastain said.

NHP trooper Loy Hixson said, “It’s obvious, too. There will be multiple victims in the car. The incident doesn’t seem right to where, why would this accident occur in this area.”

Hixson also noted, “This tractor-trailer could attempt to avoid this staged accident and, of course, there could be other victims involved in this.”

Michael Geeser of the Nevada Insurance Council stated that Insurance fraud already costs drivers hundreds of dollars a year. “All of this drives up the cost of auto insurance,” Geeser said. “Commercial insurance, auto repair, medical costs. And it continues to snowball.”

Geeser stated that since 2008, car-semitrailer insurance fraud has gone up by 24%.