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South Side Woman Blamed For Accident In Which Her Car Was Hit By Semi-Truck, Until Dashcam Backed Her Up With Proof

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A trucker crashed into a South Side woman's car, then told police it was all her fault.

Even worse, the police report backed up the trucker - until the South Sider found proof.

Now, she is sounding the alarm to CBS 2's Tim McNicholas about the trucks rumbling through her neighborhood.

Kimberly Holt's dash cam video showed a semi turning near 93rd Street and Woodlawn Avenue in the Burnside neighborhood. Holt reversed to make room, all while the trucker kept accelerating.

"Next thing I know, my car gets hit. I was in shock, I'm terrified," she said. "I called a couple of times, 911, and they stated to me they're not coming out - and to go to the station and file a police report."

So Holt says she left to do just that after giving the trucker her info. But she later learned police did show up after she left, and took a statement from the trucker.

A police report states the semi "completed the turn" then Holt "proceeded forward, sideswiping" the rear of the trailer.

The report makes no mention of Holt's story or the dash camera video, which shows the big rig hitting Holt's car. She says she couldn't access the report yet when she gave her statement at the station.

So the insurance company told her she was on the hook.

"I would have been held liable," Holt said. "They made that plain, because the only thing they could go on at that point was the police report."

Once she shared her video, Holt said she was cleared of all liability for the Feb. 9 crash. She is still waiting to be reimbursed for the damage.

She is urging everyone to drive carefully in the neighborhood, which is a few blocks from an industrial area where trucks often move in and out.

"Is this something that is going to keep occurring?" Holt said. "Because that day, it looked like an expressway at 93rd and Woodlawn, truck after truck."

Her advice is to drive with a dash cam.

The trucker drove for Sutton Leasing. We've reached out to them to ask for an explanation but have not heard back.

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