The Legal Issues of Rear End Auto Accidents

Rear end auto accidents are among the most common types of auto collisions. The causes are all-too common: texting or making cell phone calls, day dreaming or inattention, driving under the influence, conversations with passengers in the car, etc. But the results of a rear end auto accident can be devastating. They are often the cause of severe whiplash injuries and life-long neck injuries. Even worse, rear end auto accidents can be the cause of traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage or even death.

What sets rear end auto accidents apart from other auto accidents?

A number of factors set rear end auto accidents apart from other collisions and require the help of an experienced personal injury to help the victims get their lives back to normal. • First, the injured parties may have had no warning that a collision was about to occur, unless they just happened to be looking into a rear view mirror just before the collision. This means that they did not have an opportunity to brace themselves before impact and their heads and neck may have been propelled forward and snapped backward and a high speed. Typically the speed of the rear vehicle will be the same speed the head will move at impact. • Second, so-called soft tissue injuries may not manifest themselves immediately after a rear end auto accident. Many victims have been heard to say at the time of the accident that they were feeling fine and declined to be transported to the hospital. Afterwards, when the pain and injuries do reveal themselves, the victims own words can be used against him or her by an opposing attorney. • While the law generally presumes the driver of the rear car involved in a rear end auto accident is at fault, there are exceptions. A common exception is if the driver of the forward car created an unavoidable obstacle for the rear car, such as slamming on the brakes without warning or cause. • Sometimes police officers do not file adequate police reports of rear end auto accidents, and in some jurisdictions will not even come out to the scene unless there is an injury or significant property damage. At the law firm of PowersTaylor, we help people who have been injured by the wrongful or negligent acts of others. We work hard to represent victims of all sorts of accidents. Our expertise, however, can really help victims of rear end auto accidents as we work to reconstruct how the accident happened and how the injuries occurred.