Rear-End Car Accidents in San Mateo

Rear-end accidents are among the most common car crashes, often leading to serious injuries like whiplash or soft tissue damage. When you are injured after an accident, you may wonder how you will afford to pay for your medical bills and damages to your car.

You can hold the person who crashed into you accountable for your medical and property damage. Under California’s at-fault vehicle insurance system, you could submit a claim with the offending party’s insurer. Consult a dedicated car crash attorney to file a negligence lawsuit after rear-end car accidents in San Mateo.

Causes of California Rear-End Car Accidents

The National Safety Council attributes 29 percent of all car accidents to rear-end collisions. Some common reasons for these wrecks include:

• Tailgating
• The rear driver follows too closely, failing to leave one car length for every ten mph
• The rear driver does not accommodate inclement weather that leaves roads slippery
• Distracted distracted and failing to see the lead driver’s brake lights when they slow down

Hitting another car from behind can also cause the lead driver to lose control and endanger other drivers. After rear-end car crashes in San Mateo, ask an experienced injury lawyer for help.

Insurance and Negligence Lawsuits

In most San Mateo rear-end collisions, the driver who smashes into the front car is responsible. The injured driver can claim the rear driver’s insurance company because California is an at-fault state, meaning the party responsible for an accident pays for the damages, often through an insurance policy.

When the defendant was ticketed for breaking a California law, an attorney could rely on the negligence per se doctrine. Under this law, a negligent driver’s illegal activity automatically establishes the defendant had a duty to drive safely and breached that duty. While plaintiffs usually must prove negligent behavior, negligence per se allows them to use this law instead. Then, the plaintiff must only prove the defendant caused the injuries.

Proximate Cause and Cause-in-Fact

Plaintiffs must prove that the defendants are the proximate cause and the cause-in-fact of their injuries. The cause-in-fact demands the situation passes the ‘but for’ test—meaning that the injuries would not have occurred but for the defendant’s irresponsible acts. The defendant’s actions are the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries if it is reasonably foreseeable that the acts would cause the type of injuries the plaintiff incurred.

Hire an Attorney Experienced With San Mateo Rear-End Car Accidents

When you suffer whiplash or any head or neck injury that requires extensive medical treatment and time to heal, seek help from our team of personal injury lawyers at Solution Now Law Firm. You deserve compensation when the driver that hit you was negligent.

We could review police and medical reports and talk to eyewitnesses. If cell phone or surveillance videos are available, we will scrutinize them. Call our office today to schedule an appointment with a thorough and professional attorney who could help you seek financial recovery following rear-end car accidents in San Mateo.