Bumper Torn Off in Collision
A passenger car making a lane change made contact with a truck equipped with ClaimSafe©, tearing off its bumper. The driver made a claim against the truck’s company for the damages. The insurance company was going to pay, until they saw the video, which showed that the truck stayed steady in its lane, while the car moved over and caused the collision.
Woman Makes False Claim of Falling on Her Baby
In February of 2002, a woman who was carrying her baby, was stopped and talking while standing about half way back in the aisle of the bus. The bus driver started moving while she was still standing. When she yelled for him to wait until she was seated, he stopped. The woman never fell, at all. She handed her baby to the nearest passenger and went to the driver to yell at him. She called for the police and an ambulance, claiming that she had fallen on her baby, and was going to sue. She had the baby taken to the hospital to be examined. The baby never made a peep through the whole incident.
While it was wrong for the driver to start the bus moving before a lady with a baby was seated, her claim of falling on the baby is absolutely false. The video clearly shows the entire incident. The lady did file a claim. At the time of this writing, the case is still pending. Without doubt, the video is the most valuable evidence the bus company has.
Woman Breaks Ankle Exiting the Bus
An elderly woman turned her ankle and broke it, while exiting the bus. She brought suit for $200,000. The video camera pointed out the door had a clear view of the whole incident. The way her ankle turned when stepped on the crack between the curb and the sidewalk, made it clear that there must be a difference in level between them. The key to the video evidence in this case, is that frame rates lower than full-motion video would probably not have shown the motion of the ankle clearly, and may not have been of much help to the bus company. In this case, it was found that the bus company had no fault in the matter and paid nothing on the claim. The entire responsibility was placed on the property owner.
Man Claims Knee Injury From Minor Collision
While standing at the fare box after boarding a bus in Newark, NJ, a man heard and felt something happen to the bus. He said, “What was that?” A car had hit the mirror of the bus. The driver jumped up to exit the door in an effort to get a look at the car. The man was in the way, and preceded the driver off the bus. While on the sidewalk he grabbed his right knee. On re-boarding the bus he said, “I’m OK. I’m OK.” When exiting the bus, he said, “I’m hurt. I’m hurt.” Then to another passenger, “If you’re hurt you get paid.” All of this was clearly picked up by the microphone of the ClaimSafe® system. An ambulance was called for the man, who claimed he was injured when he banged his left knee against the fare box. His demeanor, actions and comments throughout the incident did not make the claim seem credible. When he went to the bus company with his lawyer to discuss a settlement, the attorney was asked if he would like to see the video. After seeing and hearing the incident for himself, the lawyer turned to his client and said, “Let’s get out of here while we’re ahead.” As with countless claims on ClaimSafe® equipped vehicles, the matter was dropped entirely after the video was seen.
Passengers Claim Whiplash
On multiple occasions, when a bus was hit from behind, passengers have claimed whiplash. With the huge difference in mass between a bus and a car, such collisions don’t really make a lot of difference to the bus. In one case, which we have on video, even the driver claimed whiplash. With the full-motion video advantage provided by ClaimSafe®, a detailed analysis of head movement and neck extension showed that body motion was no greater than what is normally experienced when the bus starts moving forward to enter traffic. It proved conclusively that no one on the bus could have received a whiplash injury from the collisions shown in the videos. No claims were paid by the bus company in these cases. A detailed analysis done with video at the slow frame rates produced by most systems could not have produced this conclusive proof.
Woman Claiming Back Injury is Convicted of Fraud
In a minor collision, a woman claimed injury, sliding down to the floor well after the collision occurred. After a couple of minutes, she apparently decided the floor was too had to be comfortable, so got up, brushed off, and sat back in her seat. When the ambulance arrived, she returned to her position on the floor. She brought suit against the bus company for her injuries. Her actions and movements, captured on video, were used as evidence against her in fighting the suit, which she lost. The video was also used as evidence when she was brought up on fraud charges and convicted for attempted fraud against the bus company.
Jump On “Passengers” After a Collision
After a serious collision between a bus and a tow truck, the driver was looking forward, inspection the damage, as people were boarding the bus through the rear door. The driver never saw anyone board after the accident. Six people who boarded after the collision filed injury claims. The bus company paid nothing on these fraudulent claims because it was all captured on video.
