According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rear-end collisions are the most common type of auto accident, accounting for more than one-quarter of all crashes. You can expect the compassion and diligence that you deserve as we explore the details of your situation and investigate whether you may have a claim.

Contact the office by completing this online form or dialing 718-441-5050 to schedule your initial consultation today.

As a rule, rear-end accidents are usually the fault of the trailing driver since the rules of the road require everyone to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles in front of them and to pay attention to traffic conditions.

These collisions often happen when the trailing driver:

• Tailgates
• Speeds
• Drives under the influence
• Gets distracted, such as by texting, grooming, or talking to someone else in the car
• Fails to account for weather or road conditions, like fog, ice, dust, rain, or snow
• Poorly maintains vehicle equipment that impedes the proper functioning of brakes.

Whiplash is a common result of rear-end crashes. This occurs when a person’s head is thrown back by the rear impact and then is jerked forward after the initial jolt. Whiplash can cause serious and long-term damage to the neck that may require significant medical care.

In nearly every rear-end collision, there is at least one driver whose carelessness was fully or partly responsible for causing harm to the victims. New York law allows them to seek compensation for their injuries from the at-fault party by filing a negligence claim. There is a limited time window, known as the statute of limitations, within which these lawsuits can be brought. Otherwise, the victim’s pursuit of compensation likely will be barred.

A negligence claim consists of four main elements, which the injured person has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence. This simply means that his or her version of events is more likely than not to be true. First, a victim will need to prove that the defendant owed him or her a duty of care, which is defined by the reasonable-person standard in auto accident cases. This obligation consists of acting with the same amount of precaution as the ordinary, prudent person would have used in similar circumstances. The victim next will need to show that the defendant engaged in some careless behavior that fell short of this standard, breaching the duty of care. Tailgating, distracted driving, or operating a vehicle while intoxicated are possible examples of a breach.

Even if the defendant acted carelessly, however, the victim cannot recover unless there is a direct causal link extending from the breach to the harm that he or she suffered. It must be shown that the accident was a reasonably foreseeable result of the other driver’s negligent actions, and that it would not have happened if the reasonable-person standard had been met. The final element in a personal injury claim consists of identifying quantifiable damages that can be compensated. These can cover both economic and non-economic forms of harm, including medical costs, pain and suffering, damage to a vehicle, loss of income, and any other losses that arose directly from the crash.

If you have been hurt in a rear-end crash near Queens, you should consider contacting motor vehicle collision lawyer John Cassisi and his staff at The Cassisi Law Firm. The firm can advise you on whether you may have a case for negligence against the driver who struck you and provide you with the information you need to find out how you may recover damages.

You can reach The Cassisi Law Firm at 718-441-5050, or use the online form to set up your free, confidential consultation.