Almost Scammed Last Night

byronbay2

Just putting it up here so others aren't caught.

Was dropping my son to Ashton last night for soccer training. About 18.50, was driving down the Old Blackrock Road (past South Infirmary) when came to a small car (possibly old Fiesta) with 4 occupants, driving quite slowly. Followed it down the hill, past La Rochelle, and came to the lights bringing you on to the Blackrock Road, just before Ashton. Guy was still travelling slowly but as we approached the lights, they went yellow and he speeded-up to go through. I did likewise, having lost some time with his slow driving. It's a right turn there and half-way through, right in the middle of the junction, he slammed on the brakes. I (obviously!) did likewise and stopped right at his bumper, without touching it.

The driver and front-seat passenger (both Romanian men) got out of the car and went to look at the bumper, I did likewise. They spoke to each other for a few seconds, then got back into their car and drove off. I carried on to Ashton and dropped my son off; we laughed about what a close call we had just had.

Only afterwards did it occur to me that I had been (in my opinion) a prospective victim of insurance fraud and that if I had made the slightest touch to their car's bumper I would have been in a world of pain! Am I right or just being paranoid? Opinions invited.

Balmed Out

Id say your right. I was an L plate driver and was driving from glandore to leap some years back, keeping a safe distance behind the car in front of me. I thought he was driving a little oddly as he kept slowing and then going to a normal pace. Approaching Leap he paused as if he cut out and then drove as fast as he could in reverse towards me. Thankfully I had time to go into reverse too. After several seconds he went out of reverse and drove as fast as possible away, unfortunately I was too flustered to take the license plate down correctly.

byronbay2

byronbay2 wrote: »

..............Guy was still travelling slowly but as we approached the lights, they went yellow and he speeded-up to go through. I did likewise ..................................... I would have been in a world of pain! Am I right or just being paranoid? Opinions invited.

Amber means prepare to stop, not speed up.

lawred2

Well given it was an amber light and you were accelerating you were asking for it really.

Lucky escape.

byronbay2

Balmed Out wrote: »

Id say your right. I was an L plate driver and was driving from glandore to leap some years back, keeping a safe distance behind the car in front of me. I thought he was driving a little oddly as he kept slowing and then going to a normal pace. Approaching Leap he paused as if he cut out and then drove as fast as he could in reverse towards me. Thankfully I had time to go into reverse too. After several seconds he went out of reverse and drove as fast as possible away, unfortunately I was too flustered to take the license plate down correctly.

Wow, never heard of that happening before! What a scary thing to experience. Lucky escape for you there. I think we can safely say that you were DEFINITELY a prospective victim of insurance fraud!

razorblunt

You're lucky a) to not get stung and b) to not have crashed from speeding up to get through an amber.
What if it had been a legitimate reason to stop suddenly, like an eager pedestrian crossing on red at that side of the road or a build up of traffic you couldn't see from your junction.

beer enigma

Gosh and there I was thinking this thread was about a potential scam rather than the higher ground morality of increasing speed through an amber light :rolleyes:

byronbay2

razorblunt wrote: »

You're lucky a) to not get stung and b) to not have crashed from speeding up to get through an amber.
What if it had been a legitimate reason to stop suddenly, like an eager pedestrian crossing on red at that side of the road or a build up of traffic you couldn't see from your junction.

It is a well-lit junction and I could see clearly that there was absolutely no reason for him to slam on the brakes in the middle of the right turn.

If either of the scenarios you posit had occurred, we would have ended in the exact same situation as actually happened: my car stopped 6 inches from his back bumper!

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Andip

Andip wrote: »

Gosh and there I was thinking this thread was about a potential scam rather than the higher ground morality of increasing speed through an amber light :rolleyes:

Well to be a victim of the "scam" you need to speed up at an amber light when there's a car in front of you that's been slow moving for quite a bit before.

Speeding up at an amber light in those circumstances is asking for trouble.

What you are thinking has SFA to do with it.

The OP asked for opinions, he's getting them.

byronbay2

Andip wrote: »

Gosh and there I was thinking this thread was about a potential scam rather than the higher ground morality of increasing speed through an amber light :rolleyes:

Yeah, I expected certain members of the high-horse brigade to show up when I mentioned going through the yellow light! Still, I had to include it for an accurate representation of what happened.

byronbay2

byronbay2 wrote: »

............

The driver and front-seat passenger (both Romanian men) got out of the car and went to look at the bumper, I did likewise. ................

byronbay2 wrote: »

........... my car stopped 6 inches from his back bumper!

Was there any interaction between ye?

Guy Sajer

Andip wrote: »

Gosh and there I was thinking this thread was about a potential scam rather than the higher ground morality of increasing speed through an amber light :rolleyes:

Because the increase in speed through amber is what caused the near miss. That's the only thing we can be sure of because we don't know if it's a scam just on the basis that the occupants could have been Romanian in the eyes of the OP.

irishgeo

a dash cam would have got the reg.

Bandana boy

I would love if one of the scumbags driving without insurance would run into one of these scumbag Insurance scammers.

justsaynokids

Not really a scam though is it? , If you hit him it would have been your fault , no-one made you speed up to catch the light.

lawred2

justsaynokids wrote: »

Not really a scam though is it? , If you hit him it would have been your fault , no-one made you speed up to catch the light.

yeah but Romanians like

byronbay2

Augeo wrote: »

Was there any interaction between ye?

I laughed and said words to the effect of "Phew, that was a close one". They said a few words to each other in (what I presume was) Romanian but nothing to me.

byronbay2

byronbay2 wrote: »

.............. Opinions invited.

byronbay2 wrote: »

Yeah, I expected certain members of the high-horse brigade to show up when I mentioned going through the yellow light! Still, I had to include it for an accurate representation of what happened.

Some cheek. You only want opinions that tell you you are a great lad.

Drive like a tool and accuse folks who point that out to be members of the high-horse brigade.

JohnFalstaff

Bandana boy wrote: »

I would love if one of the scumbags driving without insurance would run into one of these scumbag Insurance scammers.

The problem then is that MIBI often cover the payout and we all end up taking the hit in rising insurance premiums.

byronbay2

Guy Sajer wrote: »

Because the increase in speed through amber is what caused the near miss. That's the only thing we can be sure of because we don't know if it's a scam just on the basis that the occupants could have been Romanian in the eyes of the OP.

Are you taking the piss or what?? The near miss was caused by the other driver slamming on the brakes for no reason whatsoever.

I said the occupants of the other car were Romanian because they were. If they had been Irish, or any other nationality, I would still consider it an attempted scam.

justsaynokids

lawred2 wrote:

yeah but Romanians like

Should I grab my pitchfork ?

lawred2

yeah... your driving had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

lawred2

justsaynokids wrote: »

Should I grab my pitchfork ?

well I don't know of any other way to deal with this... Do you?

justsaynokids

irishgeo wrote:

a dash cam would have got the reg.

To do what with ? I could imagine the laughing the local gardai would do at this lad.

justsaynokids

lawred2 wrote:

well I don't know of any other way to deal with this... Do you?

Erm, genocide ?

archer22

Augeo wrote: »

Amber means prepare to stop, not speed up.

Yes that's the legal and practical intention...but to many Irish Drivers amber = "Jasus speed up we might make it".:(

justsaynokids

byronbay2 wrote:

Are you taking the piss or what?? The near miss was caused by the other driver slamming on the brakes for no reason whatsoever.

No , if you kept the same speed rather than speeding up you would have had ample time to stop , you caused the near miss.

byronbay2

Augeo wrote: »

Some cheek. You only want opinions that tell you you are a great lad.

Drive like a tool and accuse folks who point that out to be members of the high-horse brigade.

You're missing the point, I was looking for opinions on whether this incident was "just one of those things" or a pre-meditated attempt to orchestrate an "accident".

Caliden

justsaynokids wrote: »

No , if you kept the same speed rather than speeding up you would have had ample time to stop , you caused the near miss.

They didn't hit each other so it was a miss rather than a near miss.

It would be more of a near hit

Guy Sajer

byronbay2 wrote: »

Are you taking the piss or what?? The near miss was caused by the other driver slamming on the brakes for no reason whatsoever.

I said the occupants of the other car were Romanian because they were. If they had been Irish, or any other nationality, I would still consider it an attempted scam.

No I'm not taking the piss. How do you know there was no reason? You said you had no interaction with them to ask why and I presume you can't see through their car to what was ahead of them.

They were driving slowly until the orange lights came on, which mean slow and stop I'd safe to so which I presume it was safe because they were going so slow.

If you followed the rules of the road you would have been stopped at the red and there would have been no slamming of breaks.

So the guys who showed you there passports as they stepped out of their car are not 100% to blame.

justsaynokids

Caliden wrote:

They didn't hit each other so it was a miss rather than a near miss.

Caliden wrote:

It would be more of a near hit

Yes you do have a point but he was still in the wrong , come on my pitchfork hand is getting restless.

justsaynokids

byronbay2 wrote:

You're missing the point, I was looking for opinions on whether this incident was "just one of those things" or a pre-meditated attempt to orchestrate an "accident".

Probably was pre-meditated yes, you are still in the wrong though.

.red.

Call the Manon Vigilante, he'll sort them out lol.

This could very well have been a premeditated "accident". Very hard to prove it tho.

You need to remember tho that you should be a far enough distance back from the car in front to stop suddenly, in this instance you were so no harm done.
Most Irish drivers tailgate tho which is what these scammers are relying on.
Look at it this way,
If you'd have had a dashcam on board and you HAD gone into the back of them, the camera would have shown the light going amber, you speeding up and crashing into the back of a car who had to stop suddenly. You would be completely in the wrong. The driver in front would have said they thought a dog/child/adult entered their path and they had to stop.

bucketybuck

How is pointing out that the OP was actually the second car to drive through the same "prepare to stop" light getting on a high horse?

Seems rather pertinent to me, it's a strange scam that relies upon the other driver doing something illegal, I'm sure they could have engineered a better scenario than one that relies on the mark also ignoring the rules of the road. Most people would of course have stopped on the yellow making the scam very unlikely to succeed.

Red Kev

OP, it's possible/probable that it was a scam. If you had hit him, then you would have been liable as you weren't keeping enough of a distance to stop in time. The driver of the other car can claim he saw something on the road, or that there was a child who stepped out in front of him etc. etc. It's also possible that this happens genuinely.

You can do three things. Firstly, get a dashcam (I seriously recommend them), there's a big thread on it in the motors forum for advice.
Secondly, keep your distance (as you did) and be prepared (as you were).
Thirdly, don't mess around with amber lights, it can be dangerous

gimmick

Augeo wrote: »

Amber means prepare to stop, not speed up.

lawred2 wrote: »

Well given it was an amber light and you were accelerating you were asking for it really.

Lucky escape.

Oh the boards moral brigade!!!

There is not enough :rolleyes: in the world

Red Kev

gimmick wrote: »

Oh the boards moral brigade!!!

There is not enough :rolleyes: in the world

You can do the roll eyes all you want. Fact is, that if there had been an accident she would have been 100% responsible, scam or no scam. Any insurance company or court in the country would agree as well. No proper solicitor would back her in a court against her insurance company either.

No damage done this time, just try to learn from it.

CB19Kevo

In all fairness everyone the OP was trying to make people aware that this scam may be operating in the area,Nice thing to know if that is the case and we should always be vigilant wherever and whenever driving but i really think the tone of some reply's here is unfairly critical.
I have no doubts the OP will be more aware in future,and more cautious on amber lights,Point made and as he stated he was able to complete a emergency stop without making contact with the car ahead.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Andip wrote: »

Gosh and there I was thinking this thread was about a potential scam rather than the higher ground morality of increasing speed through an amber light :rolleyes:

Increasing speed through an amber light directly influenced the outcome in this case. Nobody should be labelled "high horse brigade" or whatever, for pointing that out. It's also pointless harping on like "justsaynokids" (who obviously never broke a road law in his/her life)

It could be a scam OP, it also could be a lost and incompetent driver, however, I suspect the latter to be untrue. Sounds something similar to this (apologies for the trashy link).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/moment-crash-cash-fraudsters-caught-6214414

Domo1982

Just before 7 last night me and 3 lads were heading to tag rugby training on the old Blackrock road. Just as we turned right a lunatic came up behind us after speeding up to run a red light…he almost hit the back of my car – It was a lucky escape to be honest. It was a really scary experience. He got out of the car and looked us up and down before driving off. He looked like he was Irish(Red hair and holding bag of potatoes)

Should I report him to the Guards for dangerous driving?

Bogdan, who was looking out the back window at the time, got the biggest fright of all of us and couldn't sleep last night. He had to call in sick to work this morning as well and is thinking of heading to see his solicitor.

People really need to be more careful

Dumitru

syntheticjunk

it's popular scam. All four passengers would complain about neck injuries aswell.

justsaynokids

Maggie Uptight Radiologist wrote:

Increasing speed through an amber light directly influenced the outcome in this case. Nobody should be labelled "high horse brigade" or whatever, for pointing that out. It's also pointless harping on like "justsaynokids" (who obviously never broke a road law in his/her life)

I'll have you know I haven't broken any road laws in my life , and I am a man just for clarification.

Umaro

Maybe if OP had crashed into the back of them, then all of you could sit quite justified on your high horses. As it is, they had the time and space to stop, and didn't get caught in the trap that had been setup for them.

OP - perhaps you'll think twice before you report attempted scams in the future. The righteous boards.ie crowd will always find the loophole to blame you for whatever happened, or in this case didn't happen.

justsaynokids

Umaro wrote:

OP - perhaps you'll think twice before you report attempted scams in the future. The righteous boards.ie crowd will always find the loophole to blame you for whatever happened, or in this case didn't happen.

But it was his fault ? So the blame is being allocated appropriately.

TheChizler

justsaynokids wrote: »

But it was his fault ? So the blame is being allocated appropriately.

Nothing happened though so no fault to apportion.

beer enigma

Ah lads, this is becoming ridiculous, the thread has more judgmental comments about this flipping amber light than it has about the actual point the OP was making.

OP posted in Cork forum to warn of a possible scam in the area otherwise he'd have posted in the motors forum.

Irrespective of what speed either car was doing, he left enough room to stop (albeit by the skin of his teeth), but stopped he did.

Boards.ie charter requires that comments 'stay on thread', I think this has drifted right off & I bet the OP wishes he'd have said nothing at this stage. Comments like these will dissuade people from posting similar warnings and that will only lead to some other poor sucker getting injury claims against them.

Give the guy a break please

razorblunt

There's no moral high horse to be perfectly honest, there was an increase in speed to get through the amber light, that's just the fact of the matter.

At least the OP was paying enough attention to stop the car short.

It's clearly a ploy that preys on the fact the amber light is often diced with. Driving in Cork is gone to pot anyway that even a red light is often ignored!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

justsaynokids wrote: »

I'll have you know I haven't broken any road laws in my life , and I am a man just for clarification.

Either you don't drive or you are lying.

justsaynokids wrote: »

But it was his fault ? So the blame is being allocated appropriately.

So you keep on repeating, what's your point exactly? That the OP was in the wrong? We get it, you said it multiple times already. Have you anything else to add?

Andip

Andip wrote: »

.............

Boards.ie charter requires that comments 'stay on thread', I think this has drifted right off & I bet the OP wishes he'd have said nothing at this stage. Comments like these will dissuade people from posting similar warnings and that will only lead to some other poor sucker getting injury claims against them.

Give the guy a break please

~I'm sure the charter has a piece about back seat modding too.

leahyl

stay on topic please.