What are the most common causes of rear-end accident cases? The most common cause is following too close. The law requires that you maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you. The rule of thumb is that for every 10 miles per hour that you are traveling, you should maintain at least one full car length from that vehicle.
Failure to do so may be evidence of your negligence.
Sometimes people think that every rear-end accident case means that the striking vehicle is at fault. That is not always the case.
If you were injured in this type of accident, reach out to our experienced car accident attorney.
Are There Defenses in a Rear-End Accident Case?
There may be defenses. A driver rear-ending a vehicle that is parked on the side of the road on a sharp curve is not necessarily liable for that injury. It may be that the owner of the parked vehicle is responsible. In particular, if the curve was a sharp one.
If you rear-end a vehicle that is improperly stopped on the roadway, the owner of the stopped vehicle may be liable. In particular if this was at night and the vehicle is not properly lit. In that instance, the vehicle owner is obliged to provide warnings to approaching motorists. Failure to do so may make that vehicle owner liable.
In addition, a vehicle may have stalled due to no fault of the owner. If that is the case, then the issue of fault may have to be decided by a jury. That is, did the operator of the stalled vehicle know that the vehicle was having problems? Did they exercise reasonable care in turning on their flashers once the vehicle had stalled? Did they exercise reasonable care in terms of warning approaching motorists? Those are all factors that a court needs to consider in looking at a rear-end accident case.
The Striking Vehicle is Not Always at Fault in a Rear-End Accident Case
In the instance of a sudden stopping without justification, the operator of that vehicle may be liable for any resulting injury.
Likewise, if there were some sudden emergency, in particular a sudden medical emergency that caused a vehicle to stop, then that operator may not be liable.
In general, however, the mere fact that one vehicle strikes the rear of another vehicle creates what is called a “prima fascia” case of negligence. That is, the striking vehicle is generally presumed to be at fault unless there is some mitigating circumstance.
A vehicle entering a highway and then being rear-ended by another vehicle can create a difficult question as to who is at fault. In that instance, it may be that the vehicle entering the highway is at fault. Those are very specific cases that need to be judged on the particular facts.
Va. Code § 46.2-816 states that a driver shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable. That statute needs to be complied with. Failure to comply with that statute will result in liability being determined against the striking vehicle.