Almost got scammed again, but this time I had a dash cam / black box to save me

Almost got scammed again, but this time I had a dash cam / black box to save me

 

Have you ever heard the saying, that’s what you get for being too nice?  I really hope man kind does not resort to everyone thinking like that, however it really hit me in the back of the head a few years back.

One night in 2013, after staying late at my office, I ended up going home around 2 a.m, which is when all the drunk people are on the road.  I had my white 535i at the time, and was the second car at a stop light, so 1 car in front of me, and it was a slight up hill.  The car in front of me, a Jeep, lets go of the brake, starts to roll back towards me, so I pressed my horn for quite a long time.  The Jeep in front of me does not hear my horn, and rolls back into my front bumper.  He then tries to run away, so I chase after him and get him to pull over.  Once he pulls over and I go to talk to the driver, he is drunk out of his mind.  Me being the nice guy that I am, I told him hurry up and give me your insurance info, and get out of here before the police get here, I didn’t want the person to get a DUI.  Had some paint chips on my front bumper, and some slight scratches, but nothing some fresh paint can’t fix.

So I take pictures, get all his information, and then I called my insurance, which was State Farm at the time, and told them what happened.  A few days later, my insurance calls me and says that I need to make another statement.  When I asked why, State Farm tells me, the driver of the Jeep said that I rear ended him, and that I was drunk.  Are you freakin kidding me?  I actually ended up losing the case.  I am not as nice to strangers anymore, and I invested in a dash cam.  After a lot of research, I went with the iRoad T10.  So far I must say, it is an awesome product.  Records HD Video, front and rear, automatically over writes older captures, can access through WiFi, and was not that hard to hard wire to fuse box with the included kit.

Today, 07/14/2018, I drove to L.A again to take care of some personal matters.  I exited the freeway, and while driving down Alvarado, a tow truck driver walked out into my lane, and hit my mirror.  At first I thought huh?  But after seeing that my right side mirror was facing upward, I pulled over.  The tow truck driver drives to where I am, blocks my car, runs to my car cussing, and pushes me against my car.  As a human being, even after that, I first asked him if he is ok.  Second, I know my rights, I never left my lane, he walked in to the middle of the street and hit MY mirror.  He proceeds to say “You broke my f’in arm” and tries to blame me for what happened.  So I told him, look, no matter what you say, I have a dash cam which recorded the whole incident, you got out of your car and pushed me, let’s call the police and have them take care of it.  At first he’s like go ahead call the cops!  As soon as I start to call 911, he get’s in his tow truck and leaves.

I really feel that everyone should have a dash cam in their car.  I can only imagine the hell I would have went through today if I didn’t have the whole incident recorded.  The tow truck driver would have probably said that I ran into him, and then it would have been my word against his, and I probably would have ended up losing quite a bit of money.  It really sucks that humanity has come this low, but I say better safe than sorry.

Am I going to press charges for him pushing me against my car like that? I’m not sure yet.  I am putting in a claim, and sending the videos files to my insurance company.  Also, I am going to have my mirror checked out to make sure there are no cracks on the outside, or any damage to the inside, since they are automatic folding mirrors.  Any damage, I am going to have him pay for it.  The kind of guy I am, even without the dash cam, if the guy never pushed me, it could have went such a better way. But since he did push me, I’m glad I have my dash cam.

Here is the tow truck driver, carelessly walking in to my lane and the smashing my mirror.

After I pulled over, he blocked me in, ran at me cussing, and pushed me against my car.

After blaming me saying that it was my fault, once I showed him that I have everything on video, and I’m calling the police, he took off.

 

 

JULY 14, 2018 BY DAVIDIN