# Is this traffic incident illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259 "2026-05-20T19:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/1 "2026-05-20T19:13:31Z")
The other day some jerk swerved in front of me and slammed on their brakes nearly causing me to run into them, Can I call the police and have them arrested? ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/2 "2026-05-20T19:16:23Z")
You can call the police and file a report. If you have dashcam video that would make a citation more likely to happen. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone being arrested for a traffic violation that didn’t involve death or injury… you know, unless you have evidence they were under the influence. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/3 "2026-05-20T19:27:31Z")
Again, sans contact, Police aren’t going to consider it a criminal activity in most cases. If you have all the documentation though, it _might_ be worthwhile to report it just in case they caused an accident later in the day/drive. Though almost certainly more trouble than it’s worth for _you_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/4 "2026-05-20T19:29:23Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > The other day some jerk swerved in front of me and slammed on their brakes nearly causing me to run into them, You may have avoided [insurance fraud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_crash) there. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/5 "2026-05-20T19:35:57Z")
Yes, “brake checking” is illegal in almost all states. Whether the cops would do anything about it with our without evidence is another story. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/6 "2026-05-20T19:36:49Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > You may have avoided [insurance fraud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_crash) there. This is true - and a good reason to report it if you have dashcam footage. Even if you only got the license plate it could be beneficial to report it to police. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/7 "2026-05-20T19:41:50Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Can I call the police and have them arrested? You can call the police (non-emergency line, please). You cannot “have them arrested”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/8 "2026-05-21T01:09:03Z")
The ones who _ **might** _ **do something about it are his insurance company.** Report it, so there’s a record of it. Don’t expect the police to do much about other than file the record (certainly not “arrest him”). But the police can check the records to see what insurance company (if any) he has, and they might tell you the company name. Informing his insurance company, especially sending them the dashcam video, might make you feel better – and possibly help some future driver avoid being scammed. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/9 "2026-05-21T13:51:38Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > The ones who _ **might** _ **do something about it are his insurance company.** > Report it, so there’s a record of it. > Don’t expect the police to do much about other than file the record (certainly not “arrest him”). But the police can check the records to see what insurance company (if any) he has, and they might tell you the company name Maybe it’s a state by state thing but I can’t run someone’s name and learn which insurance company they have a policy with. Even if they have a previous accident report with an insurance policy number attached it doesn’t mean they’re still covered under that policy And what do you think the insurance company is going to do anyway? No accident, no citation. You think they’re going to raise his rates or drop him because somebody called and complained about their driving like they’re telling his mom? Doesn’t work like that. The OP only has a plate number, not the ID who was actually driving The driver in the OP was certainly a dick. But there was no accident and that’s that. The road is full of dicks. Be careful and move on. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/10 "2026-05-21T14:27:42Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Maybe it’s a state by state thing but I can’t run someone’s name and learn which insurance company they have a policy with. Tim isn’t saying report it to the insurance company - you report it to the police. Then if the same license plate shows up in a similarly questionable traffic interaction, there’s a record with the authorities of repeat occurrences. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/11 "2026-05-21T15:05:13Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Tim isn’t saying report it to the insurance company Yes he did. He suggested the police might give out the dick drivers insurance info. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-traffic-incident-illegal/1030259/12 "2026-05-21T18:40:59Z")
One of the first people I knew with a Tesla (Model 3) posted about an incident where someone passed him rapidly on the outside lane, then to avoid a parked car cut in front of him at high speed barely missing him. Since Teslas are always recording, he gave the recording to the police, and they said they were going to issue a ticket for dangerous driving. One of the issues is that ticket are issued to the driver, so the logical argument is “I wasn’t driving”. Photoradar laws typically allow for the owner to be ticketed, but don’t cause demerit points on the license. (To reduce car chases, one province I read about had a “produce the driver” law. The owner would be obliged to produce the driver, or else face the penalty themselves for some traffic offenses) Brake checking would also fall in the category of dangerous driving. But, the problem always comes down to proving it was a brake check. As a police officer once told me, he got assigned blame when someone cut him off, and stopped quickly to turn left; unless you can prove otherwise, rear end collisions are typically assigned to the person behind for not leaving enough room. (Which is why it’s great for insuance fraud). There was a video online of someone doing the insurance fraud - and because the person stopped in time, they backed up and rammed him, then everyone piled out of the car acting like they had sore necks, etc. The driver slid across and exited the passenger side and left in another car that stopped in front of them, presumably one of the passengers with a clean record would pretend to be the driver. Everyone looks so injured, until one of them spots the dashcam, and they try to hide their faces.