Understanding the Rear End Accident Presumption of Liability

Pretend that you’re in your car, sitting in traffic, a red light or a stop sign. Then you feel it, from behind—someone has rear ended your car. You are injured. Despite the fact that you’re not alone—thousands of people every day are victims to rear end car accidents—rear end accidents are handled a little differently than other kinds of car accident cases.

Presumption of Fault

That’s because generally, in a rear car accident, there is a presumption of fault against the driver who hit you.

A presumption means that you don’t have to prove liability. You, as the victim, walk into court on day 1, and it is just assumed that the other side was careless. You don’t have to prove what he or she could have or should have done.

This is a powerful thing to have going into an injury trial (you do still have to prove that your injuries were caused by the accident, and the severity and extent of your injuries).

Overcoming the Presumption

The presumption can be overcome by the Defendant, if the defendant can prove any of the following:

• That you made a lane change that was inappropriate, or where you didn’t use your turn signals
• That you stopped somewhere that you would not be expected to, or where it was unsafe to stop
• That you had non working tail lights
• That you were stopped for an emergency but had no emergency or hazard lights flashing

Notice that things like “they stopped too quickly,” aren’t on that list. The Defendant can’t say that you hit your brakes too abruptly; all drivers have an obligation to keep a safe distance when behind other cars such that they can recognize and react even if the car in front brakes abruptly.

Admitting Liability

As you can see this means that even if you are rear ended your behavior may still be questioned by the Defendant. But these are hard defenses for a defendant to prove.

In most rear end cases, the Defendant will actually admit that they rear ended you—they will just challenge things like whether your injuries were actually caused by the accident, or they will say that you aren’t as injured as you claim to be.

Comparative Negligence

If the Defendant can show any of the items listed above, it doesn’t mean you lose your case. It only means that the jury could find you at fault for the accident, in full or in part. If the jury does this, your recovery would be reduced by the percentage that the jury feels the accident was caused by your own careless behavior.

So, if the jury compensated you $50,000, but found you 20% responsible because you, for example, stopped your car somewhere you shouldn’t have, the jury will reduce what you are compensated by 20%, or $10,000.

Let us help you if you were injured in a rear end car accident. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for help and a free consultation.

Sources:

mass.gov/info-details/standards-of-fault-to-be-used-by-the-board-of-appeal-on-motor-vehicle-liability-policies-and-bonds-and-insurers-in-presuming-fault-when-making-at-fault-accident-determinations#:~:text=(03)%20Rear%20End%20Collision.,rear%20section%20of%20another%20vehicle.

mass.gov/doc/211-cmr-74-standards-of-fault-to-be-used-by-the-board-of-appeal-on-motor-vehicle-liability-policies-and-bonds-and-insurers-in-presuming-fault-when-making-at-fault-determinations/download