A San Diego man sparked a conversation online after sharing what happened immediately after getting into a minor car accident with another driver. Now, commenters are debating whether police even respond to crashes where the damage is minimal.
In his video, which has garnered over 564,700 views, TikTok creator Mason (@bigtopsandiego) appears to be arguing with a man whose car he scraped.
How Did Both Drivers Handle The Accident?
“Dude, while driving, I turned this corner… my tire literally scraped this guy’s stuff,” he says while filming just above the car’s headlight and touching it.
“No, don’t touch it,” the man can be heard saying in the background.
“And instead of us just talking about, ‘Yeah, let’s just get it taken care of,’ he just wants to call the police,” he continues.
He then turns the camera toward the person in the background, presumably the owner of the car involved in the incident.
“Why not?” the man asks. “Just doing the right thing.”
Mason says he has a better idea in mind.
“I could literally pay for it,” he says. “We could go to a shop and get it taken care of, but ‘We have to go to the police.’”
Mason even hands out an insult in the video’s caption. “Beta male,” he wrote, which means a “passive” or “subordinate” male animal in its truest definition.
Commenters Are Divided
In the comments, some viewers shared that the affected driver was in the right. Others point out he isn’t blameless.
“Yeah, call the police,” one advised. “He parked in red. That’s not gonna be your fault.”
“Isn’t he on red??” another user asked. “He is,” Mason replied.
While the car appears to have been parked near a red curb, it’s not clear whether it was in that position at the time of the impact.
Other commenters supported the affected driver’s decision to call the police. “Because there are shady people that say they will take care of it and they won’t,” a third commenter said. “A police report is a 100% secure.”
“The police won’t go out for that,” claimed a fourth. “They’ll say to exchange info.”
Should You Call The Police For Minor Car Accidents?
In the state of California, a local law firm notes, you are required to call the police under a few conditions. Those include if there have been injuries or significant property damage, or if you’re dealing with an uncooperative driver.
Calling the police isn’t a requirement if those conditions aren’t met. However, experts still recommend submitting a report or calling the non-emergency line, regardless of who is at fault.
California is a comparative negligence state. This means that fault and liability for damages will be split among the parties in an accident, based on their percentage of fault.
Additionally, as some commenters pointed out, while the scrape looks minimal, there is a chance that repairs could exceed $1,000.
In California, drivers involved in a collision that results in injury or more than $1,000 in property damage are required to file a California DMV SR-1 form. Failing to do so within 10 days can result in the suspension of their driver’s license.
BroBible has reached out to Mason via his company’s email address for comment.