Staged car collisions in Canada are up 400 percent and the friendly wave is one of the most common setups. Someone stops. They wave you out of the parking spot or through the intersection. You pull forward because a human being told you it was safe. Their partner hits you. And because you entered a live lane of traffic, it is on you.

What does it feel like to realize a gesture you have used your whole driving life to be kind is now a tool someone else is using to commit fraud? Lorraine Sommerfeld has talked to the police about what is happening on highways too: people hiring amateur stunt drivers to wreck cars they cannot afford, smashing leased vehicles into guardrails at speed to trigger an insurance write-off, with other drivers present and no warning.

A dash cam does not prevent any of it. It does mean you have evidence when the person who set you up realizes it and runs. Insurance companies love them. Get one.

Topics: staged car collisions Canada, insurance fraud, dash cam Canada, wave traffic liability, highway write-off fraud

GUEST: Lorraine Sommerfeld | http://driving.ca

Originally aired on2026-03-27