A van full of men were pulled over on the Florida Turnpike because a trooper discovered that the van they were riding in had over $1,100 in unpaid tolls. The driver and one of his passengers (who is also the owner) didn’t speak English or have a driver’s license, nor have they ever had a driver’s license. The driver and the owner were arrested and taken to the Lake county jail. They each posted their $1,000 bond (meaning that they paid $100 each to secure a bail bond) and are due in court on September 27.
- No English
- Don’t pay tolls
- No license
I’m sure that they don’t have valid insurance, either. You can’t get insurance without a license. The scam here is that an illegal buys a van with a valid plate from someone who is legal. They leave the tags on the vehicle, because they can’t get new tags or insurance without a valid license. They use the vehicle until it either gets impounded or in an accident. The driver they hit is left holding the bag, unless they have uninsured motorist coverage.
I wonder what the odds of them being illegal aliens are. I also wonder what the odds are that the two actually show up.
This exact scam happened to me on July 4, 2002.
I was on my way home from work when my pickup truck was rear ended. The car was incapable of driving away, there was transmission fluid on the ground. The man who was driving the car did not have a driver’s license, nor any other form of I.D.. He was cited for no license and no proof of insurance. He never showed up to court, because he was an illegal immigrant. I never saw or heard from him again.
The damage to my vehicle was over $1,200. I have a $1,000 deductible and uninsured motorist coverage, so the ordeal cost me $1,000. This same story plays out all over the state every day. You can add this to the true cost of illegal immigration.
10 Comments
Rich T · September 13, 2022 at 6:10 pm
Same shit in Texas
Don Curton · September 13, 2022 at 6:19 pm
Both of my sons and I have been victims of illegals in hit and run events. Three separate events. My sons were in pickups and uninjured, i was on a motorcycle and had to pick myself out of a ditch only to see the bastard drive off. Yes, the undocumented cost is high.
anonymous coward · September 13, 2022 at 6:57 pm
I wonder what happens in a society, where people know the government will never give them justice? (Asking for a friend)
Jonathan · September 13, 2022 at 11:57 pm
Due to this and many other reasons, it is likely worthwhile lowering your deductible.
I did it several years ago when I found that for me the difference between a $1000 deductible and a $250 deductible was about $20 a year.
For this and other reasons I also carry collision and comprehensive as well as liability.
A couple years ago, my parents got hit by someone without a license driving a car (not theirs) that had insurance coverage of only $5000 – they got the limits of the other drivers policy, after a bunch of hassle; if they had collision, their insurance company would have paid full value and then fought with the other company.
Use the system as much as you can…
Divemedic · September 14, 2022 at 6:19 am
I have all of the liability, the collision, comp. I have a very high limit. The deductible doesn’t bother me, as this crash happened 20 years ago. One crash in 20 years isn’t worth lowering the deductible.
Aesop · September 14, 2022 at 9:49 am
Adopt Mexico’s system:
No license?
No insurance?
No bail.
Steve · September 14, 2022 at 12:08 pm
Huh. Every state I’ve lived in required the seller to remove the plates at the same time you sign over the title. One state allowed you to put the plates on your replacement vehicle. Another required you to turn them into the state or just hand them to any policeman.
Hard to believe there are still states with loony policies like the car is still legally yours just because the buyer hasn’t (yet) titled the vehicle in his name.
Divemedic · September 14, 2022 at 3:39 pm
That isn’t what is happening. What is happening is this:
Steve buys a van and gets it titled in his name. He gets insurance and tags on the van. He then sells it to Juan at some point for $1,500 in cash. All he needs to do is sign the title.
Juan is an illegal immigrant. Since he is illegal, Juan doesn’t have a license and cannot get insurance or register the vehicle. He has the signed title in his possession, so the vehicle is his. (The same thing happens when you trade a car in. The dealer may sell it in a different state, so will not necessarily title it in the same state that you did. ) In some cases, Steve is a legitimate person selling his own used car. In other cases, Steve is an unregistered dealer making money by selling cars to illegals on the black market.
In Florida, there is no requirement that you turn in the old tags, so Juan leaves them on the vehicle, making it less obvious that his vehicle is not registered. He then uses this vehicle to shuttle himself and half a dozen other illegals to and from work.
If he gets in an accident, all he has to do is give the cops a fake name, disappear, and buy another POS. It is cheaper to replace the POS than it is to get insurance, tags, and a license.
Steve · September 15, 2022 at 10:30 am
Oh, yeah. NEVER leave the old plates on. The presumption is that a plated vehicle was borrowed/lent unless reported stolen.
Anyone who does not bring his own plates to a private sale should be driving home without plates. My last trade, I even took a selfie handing him the signed title with the date and time showing on the high school’s electronic sign clearly in the background.
Zarba · September 15, 2022 at 8:26 am
My son (16 at the time) was driving on the interstate when traffic suddenly stopped in front of him. He wasn’t able to stop in time, and rear-ended the pickup in front of him.
He pulled over to the side of the road, as did the truck. Then, the pickup sped off and disappeared.
My son called me and asked of he should call the police. I immediately told him, “NO!!!”, since he would have been cited. Because the damage to his car was only superficial (he confirmed no fluid leaks), and it was drivable, I just told him to go home.
It’s obvious the driver was illegal, and he was less concerned about a fender-bender than he was about dealing with the police. My son’s car (my old ’01 Acura) still bears the scars of the accident; it didn’t make sense spend more on bodywork for a 20 year old car than it’s worth.
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