Dishonest people scam insurance companies every day. Insurance companies then pass the cost of these scams down to the consumer by raising rates. What is more worrisome than the scamming and loss of low car insurance is the life risk these criminals pose to each and every one of us. They do not care that our lives and our family's lives are put in danger by their unscrupulous behavior. Learn how to recognize and avoid some of the most common accident scams.

The sideswipe: A person will continuously make left hand turns in an intersection with multiple lanes until someone accidentally crosses the lane lines. The scammer then speeds up and causes a collision. To help others, tell the police if it seems that the other vehicle sped up instead of braking. You can avoid this type of crash by diligently keeping to your lane.

T-Bone Crash: This crash is orchestrated very simply. The criminal will inconspicuously wait at an intersection until someone crosses, then ram them. The criminal will claim you ran the red light or stop sign. Planted witnesses will collaborate with the other driver. This is hard to avoid. Do your best to find a witness not involved in the scam.

Swoop and Squat: Almost everyone has heard of this tactic. It is when a car swoops in front of you quickly, then slams on the brakes (squats). Many times the vehicle has multiple passengers who will claim injury. Often there are doctors and lawyers involved also. This one is extremely hard to avoid. The best thing is to just pay attention to passing vehicles and be prepared to stop quickly. These scams tend to file huge claims and affect the low cost of insurance the most.

Right of Way Scam: A really nice person gives you permission to merge with a friendly wave, then crashes into you. This person denies ever yielding right of way. You can avoid this one of two ways. You could never submit to strangers kind gestures or you could hesitate before merging. This assures there is plenty of room for you to accelerate quickly when changing lanes. It will help avoid a side impact. Then if the perpetrator hits you from behind, he or she clearly accelerated and it will be his or her fault.

Paper Scams: Criminals will report a bogus hit and run or will file a claim for a low amount of money. Amounts under one thousand don't tend draw red flags from insurance companies and can add up to a lot of money if claimed several times a month. these criminals will usually switch insurance companies often or enlist multiple partners in the scam and split the profits. These don't affect others except for ruining low cost insurance rates.

When getting car insurance quotes, ask the company how they handle possible accident scams and what you should do if you feel you have been a victim. The company needs to have a good plan in place to deal with these possible issues. Not only does it affect our health, lives and low car insurance policies, it also affects our driving record.