Rear End Collision

Have you recently been injured in a rear end collision involving a careless driver? If so, you may be entitled to significant compensation for your expenses and other losses, including medical bills, lost wages, and vehicle damage. Trying to claim this compensation on your own can be difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming – but a San Antonio rear end collision lawyer from Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover can help you pursue the full financial recovery you deserve.

For more than 30 years, the car wreck attorney Troy has fought on behalf of clients in San Antonio, Central, and South Texas, which has given him the knowledge and experience to handle even the most complex injury cases. Troy A. Brookover is Board-Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This is a distinction held by just over 1 percent of all the personal injury lawyers practicing in Texas. Troy’s Board Certification recognizes his commitment to providing the highest standards of legal representation and service to our clients. This dedication and leadership have helped Troy to successfully represent thousands of clients to date, including ones involved in rear end accidents.

If you’ve been hurt in a rear end collision, don’t wait to demand justice. Contact Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover for a free initial consultation with an experienced, compassionate rear end collision lawyer in San Antonio to learn more about your rights and options under the law.

Common Injuries from Rear End Collisions in San Antonio

Rear end collisions can cause a wide range of injuries. These injuries can be expensive to treat and can take time to recover from. These are just some of the reasons why seeking rightful compensation after sustaining injury is important. If those responsible for causing your harm don’t pay for your recovery costs, those costs will come out of your family’s budget. Some of the most common injuries sustained in rear end collisions include:

Types of Compensation for a San Antonio Rear End Collision

If you were injured in a rear end collision and someone else was partially or totally at fault for what happened to you, you could be entitled to compensation for:

• Medical expenses, including emergency room and hospital bills, surgeries, prescriptions, doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, and medical or mobility equipment
• Lost wages or income if you were forced to miss work
• Loss of future earnings and employment benefits if you are permanently disabled and cannot progress in your chosen line of work
• Physical pain and anguish
• Emotional distress, including lost enjoyment and quality of life caused by physical disabilities or permanent scarring and disfigurement
• Car repair and/or reimbursement costs

Determining Fault for Rear End Car Accidents

In rear end colissions, the driver of the rear vehicle is often presumed to be at fault. This presumption arises from the duty that all motorists have to maintain a safe following distance from the vehicle in front of them. Drivers should always leave enough distance to safely slow down and come to a stop when the vehicle in front brakes. Thus, when a driver rear ends another vehicle, it is often presumed that they did not leave enough distance to safely slow down and stop, or they were distracted and hit their brakes too late.

However, this presumption may be overcome with evidence that shows that the lead driver’s negligence may have triggered the rear end collision or that the accident was the fault of another party altogether. Some of the types of evidence that may be used to determine fault for a car accident include:

Comparative Negligence Laws and Their Impacts

In cases where multiple drivers share the blame for rear end collisions, Texas’s modified comparative negligence laws come into play. These laws affect the amount of compensation to which you might be entitled if you are partially at fault for your accident. Under the rule, you are not barred from pursuing a claim for compensation simply because you share fault for the accident. However, your share of fault must be less than the fault of the party or parties from whom you are seeking compensation.

Furthermore, even when you are eligible to pursue compensation for a car accident for which you were partially responsible, the comparative negligence rule states that any award you receive may be reduced in proportion to your share of fault. For example, if you suffered $100,000 in losses from a rear end collision but are found to have been 20 percent at fault for causing the collision, the comparative negligence rule means that your award can be reduced to $80,000 to reflect your share of fault for the crash.

Because comparative negligence laws can reduce the compensation you receive or prevent you from seeking compensation altogether, it’s important to have an experienced legal advocate on your side arguing to reduce your share of fault. A San Antonio rear end accident attorney from Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover can help you demand the maximum compensation to which you’re entitled.

Why Do Rear End Accidents Occur?

Our firm handles all kinds of motor vehicle accident cases, from the straightforward to truly complex. Some of the most common causes of rear end collisions in San Antonio that we’ve handled include:

• Tailgating – Tailgating, or following too closely, is one of the most frequent causes of rear end collisions since it means that a driver has too little distance between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them to safely slow down and stop if that vehicle suddenly brakes.
• Speeding – Speeding often causes or contributes to rear end collisions by increasing the stopping distance that a driver will need to avoid a collision.
• Distracted driving – A distracted driver may not realize that they need to apply the brakes until it’s too late to avoid a collision.
• Drunk or drugged driving – Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs impairs a driver’s perception and reaction times, making it more difficult for them to judge when they need to begin braking to avoid a collision with a vehicle in front of them.
• Drowsy or fatigued driving – Just like driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving while feeling drowsy or fatigued impairs reaction times and makes it harder for a driver to brake in time to avoid a collision.
• Reckless driving – Reckless or aggressive driving includes excessive speeding, racing, or dangerously weaving in and out of traffic. This behavior often leaves drivers little or no time to react to changing traffic conditions around them, increasing the likelihood of a rear end collision.
• Obstructions in the intersection – Many rear end collisions occur when an obstruction in an intersection causes one driver to suddenly brake and stop when the driver behind them is not anticipating the need to do so as well.
• Inadequate vehicle maintenance, particularly of tires and brakes – Poor maintenance of brakes and tires can mean that a vehicle needs more distance to slow down before it can effectively come to a stop.
• Defective auto parts – Defects in vehicle parts, such as tires, brakes, or transmissions can also reduce a vehicle’s effectiveness when braking.
• Heavy precipitation – Heavy rain, hail, and ice can make road surfaces slick and also increase the distance that a vehicle needs in order to slow down and stop.
• Low visibility due to fog or at night – Reduced visibility conditions can prevent a driver from seeing the vehicle in front of them braking and slowing down, potentially leading to a rear end collision. Drivers who do not increase their following distance to account for low visibility put themselves and others at increased risk of a car accident.

How Can Our Rear End Accident Lawyer Help You?

If you’ve been hurt in a rear end collision and another driver is at fault, you could be entitled to compensation for losses, including past and future medical bills, lost wages, diminished income, pain and suffering, and property damage. An experienced rear end accident lawyer from Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover can help you secure this compensation by:

• Thoroughly investigating the facts and circumstances of the collision
• Recovering evidence to establish fault for the crash
• Identifying the parties who can be held liable for the serious injuries and losses that you have suffered
• Calculating your past and future expenses and losses to know how much compensation to demand
• Filing insurance claims on your behalf and aggressively negotiating with adjusters to try to secure a fair settlement
• Pursuing your claims at trial, if doing so becomes the best way to secure maximum compensation