[vaibworld]

My Friend has got a court summons regarding an accident he was in.
The details are as foll:

1. He was driving through a jam-packed market area.
2. A drunk man literally falls on his car. My Friend panics and gets out of the car to help the guy. The guy is so drunk that he cannot even stand.
3. There are police nearby who try to blame my friend. The matter reaches the Police station where an FIR is filed.
4. Conveniently there is no CCTV footage in that area.

After 2 months now, my friend has received a court summons where the man is claiming 1.5 Lakhs as compensation for his injuries. He has made a claim under Motor vehicles act and is claiming the amount under insurance.

The police seem to be in on this.

Kindly share your advice on how to safeguard ourselves from such incidents.

[_Piyush_]

Originally Posted by vaibworld

My Friend has got a court summons regarding an accident he was in.

After 2 months now, my friend has received a court summons where the man is claiming 1.5 Lakhs as compensation for his injuries. He has made a claim under the Motor Vehicles Act and is claiming the amount under insurance.

The police seem to be in on this.

Kindly share your advice on how to safeguard ourselves from such incidents.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. But, we live in a Country where finding a CCTV tape is very difficult. The only way to safeguard ourselves from such incidents is to equip your car with both Front and Rear Dash Cams, even if you don't hardwire it, at least you will have some evidence to back your statements.

Sorry to say this but this is not just related to fake victims, there are plenty of people driving on Indian Roads, and many of them are not even aware of the rules as to how one should drive.

[batish]

Originally Posted by vaibworld

1. He was driving through a jam-packed market area.
2. A drunk man literally falls on his car. My Friend panics and gets out of the car to help the guy. The guy is so drunk that he cannot even stand.
3. There are police nearby who try to blame my friend. The matter reaches the Police station where an FIR is filed.
4. Conveniently there is no CCTV footage in that area.

After 2 months now, my friend has received a court summons where the man is claiming 1.5 Lakhs as compensation for his injuries. He has made a claim under Motor vehicles act and is claiming the amount under insurance.

There seems to be something missing here. If he was in traffic and drunk man fell on his bonnet, how can he even claim any compensation for this?

Police usually does not file FIRs so easily. Since they did there must have been some damage and that damage is not likely to be caused by jam-stuck vehicle.

If he can why not show his car as an evidence as if there was any damage his car would too had been damaged in the accident.

From what I know this compensation would be paid by his insurance company, so they'll dig everything before paying him.

Now in future to safeguard something like this would be to install a dashcam. Cross posting my earlier post here.

Originally Posted by batish

There can be several other accidents like somebody jumping in front of your car accidentally or knowingly. There your word won't have a single effect unless there is a proof.

Few months back I was driving at 60, a dog jumped out of the median strip. Didn't even get the chance to brake, same way a human too could have done the same considering our roads. Do you think anybody would have even listened to my side of the story? That same 60 kmph would have changed to 120 in next morning's paper.

Other instance, a driver few years back narrated an incident where he was driving around 70-75 the car he was following hit a person crossing the road, the victim hit that car's bonet which then threw him on driver's car. The other guy did not even bother to stop and check rather stepped on gas. The victim could not be saved and the driver, since he stopped and transported him to the Hospital was named in the FIR. You know our system, he had to present himself at every court hearing for almost 20 years. I don't know what was the outcome of that case, but I think it's prudent to get one.

It's a one time investment, a good dashcam outlives the vehicle. Better to have it rather than repenting later on. A good one costs approx. 3 tank fulls.

[adi58]

Do not plead guilty. Talk to your insurance company and let them handle the investigation.

[MT_Hyderabad]

If there were no injuries, no claim would be entertained.
A medical test must have been done and it should also carry the test for alcohol consumption.

Typically, these cases are sorted out either before reaching the police station or in the police station.
I think your friend didn't try to solve it or was arrogant with the policeman, hence they registered an FIR.

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by vaibworld

My Friend has got a court summons regarding an accident he was in.
The details are as foll:

1. He was driving through a jam-packed market area.
2. A drunk man literally falls on his car. My Friend panics and gets out of the car to help the guy. The guy is so drunk that he cannot even stand.
3. There are police nearby who try to blame my friend. The matter reaches the Police station where an FIR is filed.
4. Conveniently there is no CCTV footage in that area.

After 2 months now, my friend has received a court summons where the man is claiming 1.5 Lakhs as compensation for his injuries. He has made a claim under Motor vehicles act and is claiming the amount under insurance.

The police seem to be in on this.

Kindly share your advice on how to safeguard ourselves from such incidents.

Unfortunately, such cases are far too common. It's not just the police, but a nexus of lawyers, police, and medical centres.
The only good thing for your friend is that he has insurance. The insurance company will take care of the investigation. Your friend will only have to appear once in court to give his statement. The insurance company's lawyers will guide him.
The bad thing is that it is highly unlikely that he will win the case. MACTs always rule in the favour of 'victims' i.e. whoever is injured. In the absence of physical evidence, the courts will rely purely on statements. And it's not hard for the police to produce 3-4 witnesses to say that your friend was driving 'rash and negligently' and hit the pedestrian.
Considering the claim amount I highly doubt the insurance company will fight the case. It's simply not worth the effort and expenses for them. They are better off paying the victim. The nexus knows this and hence keep a claim amount around 2L or below.

How to safe guard ourselves? Collect evidence. Lots of evidence. Use dash cams as others have suggested. Recording everything on your phone, including the discussion with Police. Take photos of the vehicle and the victim. Use date and time stamps. Store the original evidence somewhere safe as only the original is entertained in court as per the Indian Evidence Act.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

If there were no injuries, no claim would be entertained.
A medical test must have been done and it should also carry the test for alcohol consumption.

Producing a valid medical record of injuries is barely an inconvenience for the police if they are inclined. And I am sure it will mention that the victim was not drunk.

[gary]

Which city/area is this? If there are too many such incidents, may be there is enough public information to figure out what is going on.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by vaibworld

2. A drunk man literally falls on his car. My Friend panics and gets out of the car to help the guy. The guy is so drunk that he cannot even stand.
3. There are police nearby who try to blame my friend. The matter reaches the Police station where an FIR is filed.

After 2 months now, my friend has received a court summons where the man is claiming 1.5 Lakhs as compensation for his injuries. He has made a claim under Motor vehicles act and is claiming the amount under insurance.

The police seem to be in on this.

Just goes on to reinstate my belief that the cops in this country are the notorious breed of bullies that exists this country. If you ever approach them for genuine help they will humiliate, bully and dismiss you and will side with criminals to make money on the side.

The only reason the cops blamed your friend was to make a quick buck. Definitely the drunk was in collusion with the cops. And leeches will suck on any amount of blood they get.

How different is this from the thak-thak gang that used to exist earlier.

Only advice is, that your friend doesn't take this to the heart and fight it, because there is not evidence to this case and he will win. Good Luck!!!

[jazzy]

This happened with a relative of mine too. He was driving at a very slow speed when 2 guys on a bike hit my relative's car on the bonnet, then apologised for their mistake/poor driving. Even the people around who witnessed the "accident" blamed the guys on bike. No claims of compensation were made by either party at the time as the damages were small. However, after about a couple of years he has received a court notice for negligent and rash driving causing accident and injury to the victim. My guess is this will end up with some compensation being given to the victim out of which the police will take a good share. As others have pointed out, investing in a good dash cam seems like a necessity now.

[revsperminute]

There’s always someone out to get you huh? Reminds me when my dad got conned in a traffic jam too. A guy pretended to fall in front of my dad’s car with a couple of buddies gesturing to the man on the road. As soon as my dad got down to check what had happened, someone nicked both of his mobile phones. 3 lakhs gone in 30 seconds. Just like that. The police were of no help whatsoever. Strictly instructed my dad to never leave the car no matter what happens thereafter. This happened right in front of IIT-B main gate at 5 in the evening. Later got to know this was a common occurrence at that time mainly targeting vehicles that had laptop bags, phones visible inside.

[Livnletcarsliv]

If there is no evidence/CCTV footage to make you guilty, then doesn't the same apply to that drunk person as well? What is the evidence that you crash-drove the drunk man? The police cannot (just to milk money out of anyone) just like that file an FIR without evidence or proof. They cannot bring some x,y,z people also as evidence after so long just to make a fake claim.

I see there is a missing link in your case (or) you are missing something.
If there is no CCTV proof or other evidence then there is no play here whatsoever to prove that you are guilty. Eg -This Aftab murder case. Even though police (and every Indian) knows that he is the one who killed that girl, still every single evidence and proof are gathered to validate their assumption/claim. That is how the police works.

[rageshgr]

Let him do whatever he wants. Your third party insurance should handle it. They won’t give him a penny and possibly identify insurance fraud.

[Aj_Pod]

Dashcams have become an absolute necessity with increase in cases like these. Insurance companies are known to shy away from paying as much as possible and they'll try to find some way or the other on this too. As @adi58 mentioned, your friend should not plead guilty.

It's equally important for your friend to ensure that the insurance company does not pass the buck on to him and wriggle out

All the best !

[vaibworld]

So the guy banged into the rear passenger side door. So even if a dashcam was installed it would not capture the incident.

After banging on the car he fell and somehow broke his head.