Many people are aware of the dangers and costs of distracted driving – fines, demerit points and high probabilities of collisions – and yet many still reach for the phone, play with the GPS or catch up on emails. Even if you are an experienced driver, one moment of distraction may lead you to a trap of a staged fraudulent collision. For example, to stage the collision, fraudsters pull up in a car in front of you, while a passenger watches for a moment when your eyes turn away from the road. In that moment, the driver hits the breaks, thus causing you to rear end the car. Not only is there a chance for you or others to be seriously hurt, you could be found at fault for the collision and fined for distracted driving, risking higher car insurance premiums in the future.
To protect yourself against these scams resist the temptation to multi task. If you need to answer an important phone call, check an email, or eat your lunch, take the time to pull over. Staged collisions can occur in many different ways, but by always paying attention, you can avoid becoming an easy target for the fraudsters.
