Fake motor vehicle accidents deemed a federal crime under Graves, Bost bill

With the goal of increasing highway safety and lowering car insurance rates, U.S. Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Mike Bost (R-IL) are cosponsoring bipartisan legislation that would make the intentional cause of a motor vehicle collision a federal crime. 

“Our bill will prevent criminal rings that are intentionally causing accidents from driving up costs for the rest of us by cracking down on fraudulent claims, increasing safety on the roads, and lowering insurance rates for everyone,” Rep. Graves said on June 28. “Louisiana’s drivers pay some of the highest insurance rates in America. This is unacceptable, and the solutions don’t require rocket science.”

Rep. Graves and Rep. Bost on April 27 signed on as original cosponsors of the Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2023, H.R. 2936, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) to prohibit staged collisions with commercial motor vehicles, according to the text of the bill.

“The Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2023 will help stop fraudulent, staged automobile accidents in their tracks,” Rep. Bost said. “I’m proud to join Reps. Cuellar and Graves in reintroducing this legislation to hold individuals accountable for risking the safety of other commuters and the livelihoods of the hardworking truckers and motorists they target with their costly schemes.”

If enacted, H.R. 2936 would set the penalty for a person operating a motor vehicle who intentionally causes a collision with a commercial motor vehicle or arranges for another person to cause such a collision to be fined, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both, the text says.

Additionally, the penalty for a person operating a motor vehicle who intentionally causes a collision with a commercial motor vehicle that results in serious bodily injury or death to another person, or arranges for another person to cause such a collision, would be fined, imprisoned for not less than 20 years, or both.

“Highways are a significant component of our economic supply chain. Every single day, goods flow across states to get food on shelves and products in homes,” said Rep. Cuellar. “We must commit ourselves to keeping these transit corridors open and safe all year round. That is why we must pass this important legislation protecting our truckers from staged collisions that cause dangers for civilians on the road and economic problems for trucking companies that provide an essential service.”

The American Trucking Associations supports the Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2023.