Car accidents cost billions of dollars to the insurance industry each year to cover the costs of medical bills, property damage, and more. Something that can greatly increase this amount of money is insurance fraud.
Fraudulent automobile accidents, also known as staging accidents, are happening more and more often and can cause many problems for your commercial vehicle fleet.
Do you want to learn more about staged auto accidents and how to protect yourself from them? Keep reading this article for the top five things you need to know about fleet management with staged accidents.
1. Characteristics of Staged Accidents
One of the first things you need to know about staged accidents is how to spot them. Learning the characteristics or signs of a staged accident will help you prove that it was staged.
Often, criminals will have many witnesses involved in the staging. They will support the driver and may make claims about the accident that is different from your accident.
Another common sign of a staged accident is people who begin to exaggerate their injuries as soon as the police show up. If they act like everything is fine and later claim to have injuries, this can be a sign that the accident was completely staged and they are trying to get money from your insurance.
Finally, people who stage accidents will often ask you to settle with cash rather than involving insurance. They will try to convince you that you are at fault and that involving the insurance company would cause more problems.
If you identify any of these characteristics, you should talk with the police officers at the scene to discuss your worries.
2. Common Types of Staged Accident Schemes
Next, you need to know more about the different types of staged accidents. Knowing these accidents will help you avoid accidents in the first place and will potentially help you prove that you were not at fault in an accident.
One common scheme is a t-bone collision. The person staging the accident will smash into the side of your vehicle, then will claim that you ran a red light and caused the accident.
Another common scheme is called the swoop and stop. A criminal driver will suddenly slam on their brakes, causing you to crash into them at the last second. They may even have other people boxing you in so that you cannot get into another lane.
The last common scheme is known as the wave in. The driver will signal for you to merge in front of them. When you move over into their lane, they will speed up and cause a crash. They will claim that they did not wave you into traffic and will say that you were at fault for the accident.
Learning about these types of staged accidents will make it easier to determine whether you were the victim of a staged accident. It will also help you avoid these accidents in the first place.
3. What To Do After a Staged Accident
Something else you need to know about staging accidents is what you can do after you are the victim of a staged accident. This type of fraud happens every single day. To make sure you aren’t responsible for the damage caused by this accident, you need to learn the right steps to follow after a staged accident.
First, you should take lots of pictures of both vehicles involved in the car accident. This way, you can prove how much damage happened because of the crash.
You should also take photos of the scene. In many cases, criminals will exaggerate the conditions that caused the accident, so having pictures of your surroundings can act as evidence.
Finally, you must call the police immediately after an accident. They will gather evidence, statements, and more to help you reach a resolution after your accident.
4. Staged Auto Accident Prevention
The first thing you need to do to prevent a staged accident is to be educated. Understanding the different types of staged accidents will help you avoid them in the first place! For example, if you know the common staged accident schemes, you will recognize that you are not at fault for the accident.
This way, you can get the police involved rather than paying the criminal driver.
You should also train your employees on safe driving practices. For example, avoiding tailgating can save you from staged accidents where the driver suddenly slams on their brakes.
By practicing defensive driving, you can prevent many of these accidents from occurring in the first place.
Finally, you should invest in protective gear for your commercial fleet safety. There are many types of cameras and other technology that can protect you from these types of accidents and will prove that your drivers were not at fault in these situations.
5. How To Protect Your Commercial Fleet From Staged Accidents
Lastly, you need to learn how you can protect your commercial fleet from staged accidents. It is impossible to prevent people from staging accidents, even though it is illegal.
Even though you can’t prevent people from attempting staged accidents, you can protect your business by training your employees and fleet drivers. You can educate your drivers about these types of accidents.
When they know what staged accidents are and how they look, they will be able to spot the signs of a staged accident! This way, you can be sure that they do not get away with a staged accident and you will not have to file an insurance claim.
Finally, you can buy protective devices for your commercial fleets. Having fleet cameras will help you prove fault in an accident and will prevent people from staging accidents with your vehicles.
Need Help Avoiding Staging Accidents?
When you own a fleet of commercial vehicles, you must learn to prevent people from staging accidents and learn how to identify the signs of a staged accident. By following these tips, you will be able to protect your company from insurance fraud tactics and save money on your policies.
If you need help with staged accident avoidance, Vestige can help! Our team provides everything from fleet AI cameras and tracking to employee safety devices and more.
Contact us today to learn about our commercial vehicle solutions or to request a demo of our products!
