Sunrise Car Accident Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Settle Case for $16,000

There is a presumption in the law that the driver of a vehicle that rear-ends another vehicle on the road is automatically responsible for the accident. Because of this, if you drive into the back of another vehicle, you may think that you will be held responsible for the accident for sure. Nevertheless, the situation is not always so simple. Although there is the presumption in the law described above, every rule has its exceptions. In this case, the exception is that a driver who rear-ends another vehicle will not be held responsible if it can be shown that the driver of the other vehicle in front either slammed on the breaks or cut-off the driver of the first vehicle. In each of those two situations, the driver that is rear-ended will be held responsible for the accident.

Sunrise Car Accident Results in Neck and Back Injuries

Our clients were a 52-year-old woman and 43-year-old woman. At the time of their accident, they were driving in a turn-lane on the roadway. One of our clients was driving, and the other was a passenger.

At some point, before our clients could make their turn, a vehicle in the lane next to our clients suddenly and unexpectedly swerved into our clients’ lane directly in front of them. Our client attempted to slam on her brakes and to swerve out of the lane. However, she was unable to do so due to lack of time, and our clients’ vehicle struck the other vehicle. Heavy damage was caused to the front end of our clients’ vehicle.

Our clients immediately began to feel pain. Both of our clients felt pain in their necks and backs. Within a couple days, they both reported to the office of a local chiropractor in the area. The chiropractor ordered MRIs of both of our clients’ spines. The MRI results revealed that our clients had both sustained herniated discs in their necks and backs. As a result, the chiropractor put our clients on a strict chiropractic therapy regimen. Our clients were forced to visit the chiropractor’s office several times a week for months on end. This clearly wasn’t easy for our clients, and their pain persisted even in spite of this treatment.

Sunrise Car Accident Lawyers Dell and Schaefer Settle Case for $16,000

Initially, our clients feared that it was they who would be sued! After all, they had rear-ended the other vehicle in the accident. Our clients knew that, in the State of Florida, there was a presumption that drivers of vehicles that rear-ended other vehicles were responsible for those accidents. This seemed to be a bar to their bringing suit.

Nonetheless, our clients fortunately contacted the Sunrise Car Accident Attorneys at Dell & Schaefer. We told our clients that, although they were correct about the presumption, there were exceptions to this rule. One of those exceptions dictates that, if a rear-ended vehicle had cut-off the other vehicle right before the accident, the driver of the rear-ended vehicle would be held responsible for the accident – instead of the vehicle in the rear. That is, the presumption can be rebutted.

Our clients were elated. After all, they knew that this was exactly what had happened to them: they had only rear-ended the vehicle in front of them because the driver of that vehicle had cut them off. If the other driver hadn’t cut them off, the accident wouldn’t have happened.

With this knowledge, we filed a lawsuit on our clients’ behalf. We argued that this case qualified as an exception to the presumption regarding rear-end accidents. We also argued that our clients were both avid outdoors-women. They both liked to participate in all sorts of outdoor activities. After the accident, they were both relegated to their homes, forced to spend many months recovering from their injuries.

Arguing this allowed us to settle our clients’ cases for a total of $16,000. Our clients were relieved to hear the result. After all, they had initially feared that it was them that would be sued (by the other driver) and that money would be coming out of their pocket. Now, compensation was going the other way (from the other driver’s insurance company to them). If you are involved in a rear-end accident and feel that the rear-ended vehicle was the real cause of the accident, don’t feel that you automatically cannot pursue a case.

Contact the Sunrise Car Accident Attorneys at Dell & Schaefer. Our team of experienced and highly skilled attorneys can get you compensated for your injuries. You can read about more of our resolved cases on this page.