New York Car Accident Attorneys – Rear End Collisions
  It Is Not Your Fault

WHO IS AT FAULT IN A REAR END COLLISSION 

One of the most common types of accidents that our NYC and White Plains car accident attorneys handle are are rear end collisions. More often than not, they caused by a car’s driver following too closely, traveling too fast or even being inattentive. Our New York City car accident attorneys are even seeing more and more cases where drivers are texting while driving or chatting on their cell phones while driving. In these situations, there is a high likelihood of a rear end collision because the driver simply is not paying attention to what is in front of them.

From our New York City (Manhattan) office, our personal injury car accident lawyers have successfully represented hundreds, if not thousand of victims of rear end collisions who suffered personal injury.  From our White Plains (Westchester) office, our car injury attorneys have also handled thousands of car accident cases involving rear end collisions. The law in New York is very favorable to victims of rear end collisions and recognizes that it is presumed that one vehicle which rear ends another is presumed to be at fault, especially where the vehicle which was rear ended was stopped in traffic or moving slowly at the time.

One of the questions that our New York car accident lawyers are asked is who is at fault in a rear end collision? Our NYC and White Plains rear end accident lawyers know the law and have won numerous cases on motions by proving that the other driver violated the law by not leaving enough space between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 1129(a) prohibits  the driver of a motor vehicle from following another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic and the condition of the highway. New York’s Courts have recognized that an auto or truck driver is obligated by law to maintain safe distance between vehicles, and failure to do so, in absence of adequate nonnegligent explanation, is negligence as matter of law. In other words, if you are rear ended by another car, the law in New York presumes that the accident occurred because the vehicle that hit you violated New York's vehicle and traffic law.  Our car accident attorneys have used this law to win countless cases by making a motion to the Court before trial, and have a perfect record of winning judgments for our clients in rear end collision cases.

A rear end collision can be a terrifying event. One second you are sitting in traffic or stopped at a red light and in an instant there is a loud crash and before you know what happened you are thrown around.

WHAT ARE THE MOST FREQENT INJURIES IN REAR END COLLISION ACCIDENTS 

 The mechanics of rear end collisions are notorious for causing whip lash injuries, among others. Whip lash, is not an injury in and of itself, but it is a mechanism of injury, where the body is at first thrown backward, as the car moves forward from being jolted from behind and then suddenly forward. These mechanics cause hyper-extension and contraction in the neck and back, which often causes ruptures or herniations in the discs in the spine and nerve injuries. Many people don’t experience symptoms immediately, but a day or two after the accident, their necks or backs are suddenly tight and they have pain shooting down their legs or pain shooting down their arms.

Shoulder and knee injuries are also very common with rear end collisions. Usually the driver is holding the steering wheel and they are suddenly moved forward which cases a labral or rotator cuff tear. The restraining action of the seatbelt has also been known to cause rotator cuff tears or plexus injuries known as plexopathy.

Knee injuries are also a common result from car accidents which result from rear end collisions. Typically, as the person is thrown forward, their knee impacts the dashboard or is twisted. Our personal injury attorneys are have handled all types in knee injury cases including knee fractures, meniscus tears, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, medical cruciate ligament tears (MCL) and chondromalacia, which is damage to the articular cartilage surrounding the knee bones.