I guess people will do anything for clicks. A couple in southern California was caught intentionally hitting cars on the road. The Bonnie and Clyde of YouTube left a trail of 23 wrecked cars along their way. The couple would post the videos on YouTube and also claim insurance benefits for the intentional crashes. 

Can you get insurance if you intentionally crash your car? 

You can claim the insurance, but it’s a clear example of fraud. This is so illegal that when San Bernardino authorities caught wind of the YouTube channel, they went after them. It featured 162 videos of vehicle collisions, attempted collisions, road rage incidents, and other content, the California Department of Insurance claims.

Who are these people? 

The YouTube account was under the name “BLU3 GHO57.” The two allegedly causing the ruckus were Christopher Phelps, 40, and his wife, Kimberley Phelps, 40, of Yucaipa, California. While the account has since been taken down, and it featured a pile of reckless behavior, it showed 23 intentional collisions, of which 17 had insurance claims filed by Christopher. 

Investigators say there were another 42 videos of road rage and attempted collisions that also appeared to be intentional. Christopher Phelps allegedly claimed that he was the victim in many of these videos. 

How can the Phelps family get insurance payouts when they caused the crashes?

Jeremy Perales is one of many people who were involved in an accident with the Phelps couple. CarScoops reports that Perales claims that in April 2022, he was driving when the car ahead, driven by Christopher Phelps, started slowing down and came to a stop for no apparent reason. Perales says he decided to drive around Phelps. He said that as he passed the stopped car and steered into the opposing lane, Phelps drove into him.

“He knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to not be at fault for them,” Perales told KTLA News. But, because he drove over the double yellow line, his insurance said he was mostly at fault, not Phelps. 

Phelps went as far as accusing Perales of being the one who set him up for a crash. Making matters even worse is that investigators say that some of the crash videos even have the Phelps’ kid in the car. Documentation of incidents was on the couple’s YouTube dating back as far as July 2020. 

“Allegedly there was a child involved, their child involved in the car, as well as I’m sure there were victims with children,” said Jacquelyn Rodriguez with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.

Is it illegal to intentionally crash into another car? 

It just so happens to be very illegal. CarScoops mentions that the couple is now facing felony charges for child endangerment and insurance fraud. Christopher is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Both Christopher and Kimberly pled not guilty. In the meantime, Christopher is being held on a $500,000 bail, and Kimberly’s bail was set to $170,000.