AG warns Nevadans about scam artists staging car crashes

By Katie Visconti

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014 | 12:10 a.m.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is warning drivers about staged accidents created to scam insurance companies. With the havoc of the holiday season approaching, it is important to pay attention to busy roads and reckless drivers, she says.

"Drivers may already be distracted with inclement weather, busy streets, and holiday stress, but it is equally important to be aware of other drivers who purposefully plan a collision," Masto says.

These accidents are staged by drivers who carefully position themselves to collide with unsuspecting drivers. These accidents are often difficult to prove because criminals will bring along a passenger in a vehicle who will also claim to have injuries.

Masto says such accidents are one of the fastest-growing types of fraud in the insurance industry.

The five types of staged accidents Masto says Nevadans should watch for:

• Swoop and Squat: A driver causes an intentional and unavoidable rear-end collision by abruptly entering the lane in front of the victim, or cutting the victim off, pulling in front of the victim, and forcing the victim to break suddenly.

• Drive Down: While an unsuspecting victim attempts to merge onto a freeway, a driver in the next lane directs the victim forward with a hand motion, then deliberately crashes into their auto and blames the victim for the collision.

• Sideswipe: The victim in a dual-turn left lane unintentionally veers the vehicle into the adjacent lane for a few seconds. The driver in the adjacent lane then sideswipes the victim, then accuses the victim of driving recklessly.

• T-Bone: The victim begins to drive through an intersection, when a suspecting driver intentionally slams into their automobile. The driver then accuses the victim of running the stop sign. This is also called a right-angle or broadside collision.

• The Wave: While driving in heavy traffic, a victim will attempt to merge into an adjacent lane. The driver in the adjacent lane waves at the victim indicating that he or she will make room for the victim to switch lanes directly in front. Just as the victim begins to switch lanes the driver accelerates and crashes into the rear of the victim’s car making it appear to be the victim's fault.

Drivers can try to avoid these accidents by being aware of their surroundings and how many occupants are in and around the car at the time of an accident.