Reps. Mike Collins, R-Ga., and Brandon Gill, R-Texas, have taken charge of an effort to make staged crashes with a commercial motor vehicle a federal crime.
Collins and Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, introduced the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, or HR2662, on Monday, April 7. The bill aims to address schemes involving vehicles intentionally getting into wrecks with tractor-trailers in an attempt to collect damages.
“Criminal elements are launching an assault against America’s truckers, in the courtroom and on our roads,” Collins said in a news release. “Staged accidents take advantage of truckers’ high insurance coverage and make them prime targets for criminals looking for a quick payday, saddling truckers with millions of dollars in inflated damages, increasing insurance premiums for all Americans and driving up the costs for every transported good. The Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act will hold these fraudsters and their co-conspirators accountable and stop the ‘nuclear verdicts’ that are bankrupting truckers across the country.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the bill.
“Staged accidents are not victimless crimes,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh said. “These are calculated, premeditated assaults that endanger lives, destroy livelihoods and compromise highway safety. To add insult to injury, criminals abuse the legal system for profit through false accusations and lawsuits, which contribute to skyrocketing insurance premiums for small trucking businesses. OOIDA and our 150,000 members support Rep. Collins and his commonsense legislation to protect law-abiding truckers from sophisticated criminal fraud schemes that exploit the hardworking men and women behind the wheel.”
The Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act also is supported by the American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association, the Georgia Motor Trucking Association and the Texas Trucking Association.
Operation Sideswipe
A New Orleans staged-crash scheme dubbed “Operation Sideswipe” has placed the spotlight on criminal conspiracies aimed at cashing in at the expense of motor carriers.
The fraudulent scheme dates back as far as 2011. More than 60 defendants have been charged in the conspiracy.
The scheme involves individuals who intentionally collide with a tractor-trailer (a slammer) and individuals who claim to witness the crash (spotters).
Former Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., previously introduced a similar bill following the news of Operation Sideswipe. Graves’ Highway Accident Fairness Act offered stiff penalties for those involved in staged crashes and required third-party identification for the financing of a lawsuit exceeding $5 million in damages. LL
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