"Car fucker" or not?

Suspected fraudster has to answer to the district court of Regensburg

Created: 05/03/2022, 07:30

By: Stefan Aigner

Among other things, a scooter driver is accused of fraud before the Regensburg district court.

© Martin Oswald

Was it just a normal accident - or did a scooter driver fake a collision to rip off money?

The trial against the alleged car fucker has been underway since this week.

Regensburg - It was October 9th last year.

Damaged Matthias N. is on his way back from a family visit in Straubing.

In the rearview mirror he sees a scooter rider.

He keeps going, wants to move forward.

"I have a motorcycle license myself and I know that it's better to keep your distance from cars," says the 33-year-old today.

He did not drive faster than the permitted 70 km/h.

And there was already far too much traffic to push the gas any harder.

Car fuckers in Regensburg?

First overtaken, then slowed down...

But the scooter driver is getting impatient.

Finally he pulls past Matthias N.'s car on the left, gets in front of him and brakes.

Then he waves his hand and indicates to Matthias N. that he should now overtake himself.

All of this can be seen on recordings of a dash cam that N. had installed in the car.

Luckily, he says.

"Otherwise I wouldn't have had any evidence about the incident." Because this is currently being dealt with by the Regensburg District Court.

After the scooter driver, Armin T., has braked, both get almost on the same level.

The scooter got closer and closer to his car, says N. "Either I drive into the side ditch or I accelerate forward," he describes the remaining options.

He does the latter.

At the level of the driver's door, there is contact between the scooter and the car - the whole side is scratched.

The scooter is also damaged.

But there is no fall.

Demand after the accident: “Give me 1000 euros immediately.

I could kill you right now."

At the next opportunity, Matthias N. pulls over to the right.

Likewise Armin T., who verbally attacks his opponent.

“Give me 1000 euros immediately.

I could kill you right now," he said.

Matthias N. just knocked him over.

The 43-year-old even speaks of an “attempted murder”.

But he doesn't want the police to call the person who allegedly caused the accident.

Armin T. is now in court.

Not only are there the camera recordings, a witness also observed much of what happened.

The public prosecutor is convinced: Armin T. wanted to fake an accident in order to steal money.

She assumes attempted fraud.

The accused provoked the accident and was thus guilty of deliberate, dangerous intervention in road traffic to enable a criminal offense to be committed.

"Why do you overtake first if you then want to be overtaken yourself?" Judge Andrea Costa wants to know during the proceedings.

Armin T. does not provide a real answer.

Matthias N. pushed him from behind and showed him the middle finger beforehand, he says.

The witness denies both.

But T's lawyer Gerhard Ilg is convinced: "We have the wrong accused." This assessment may not really correspond to the video.

However, the decisive scene can no longer be seen on it.

Expert to clarify the course of the accident

"If I'm a victim of an accident, the first thing I do is call the police," says Matthias N., surprised at the fact that the accused prevented him from making an emergency call.

Instead, the 43-year-old pressed him and demanded money.

This is also confirmed by the witness mentioned, who stopped a few meters away from the scene.

Armin T., on the other hand, demonstratively shakes his head during his statement.

He continues to see himself as the actual victim.

Now an expert is to reconstruct the course of the accident based on the video and the damage.

If the court is then convinced of the allegations, the accused could face a prison sentence.

Why Armin T. should have provoked this accident at all, probably remains unknown.

The incident does, however, have certain signs of a scam of so-called “car fuckers” that has been popular for years.

This refers to fictitious or provoked traffic accidents.

According to insurers, every tenth accident in Germany falls into this category.

The process will continue at the end of March.