The Georgia House passed state Rep. Kasey Carpenter’s bill this afternoon that would create a new crime for staging a car crash.
Under Carpenter’s bill, intentionally crashing your vehicle for insurance purposes would carry a mandatory minimum of two years in prison. So would faking a car crash or taking part in a scheme that causes another vehicle to crash.
Carpenter’s bill also carries two other sentences. If someone dies as the result of this fraud, the guilty party would face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. If someone filed a lawsuit over a crash that he or she faked, that person would also face a mandatory minimum of five years.
The House passed the bill, 93-76. It will now go to the senate. Today is Crossover Day, generally the final day in the state Legislature to push a bill through its original chamber.
During the floor session this afternoon, Carpenter, R-Dalton, said these actions would currently fall under the state’s insurance fraud law.
“But that section is very vague in regards to car insurance fraud,” he said.
State Rep. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, objected to the mandatory minimums in the legislation. He argued they may be disproportionate to the crime.
“Sexual battery against somebody less than 16 years old is a minimum of one year,” he said. “Child molestation, on the first offense, is a minimum of five years. That’s the level of seriousness we’re talking about when we start with a minimum sentence of five years.”