Posted On February 2, 2022 Auto Injury,Case Studies
Getting rear-ended while stopped at a red light is a startling, and potentially life-changing, experience. If you’re thinking “I got rear-ended how much money will I get”, read on and we’ll show you how some of our specific cases ended. Making a car crash claim is about more than paying the medical bills. While it’s hard to say what the average rear-end car accident settlement will be without assessing the injuries involved, these 3 lawsuits had payouts ranging from $100,000 to $585,000.
Our client brought his pickup truck to a legal stop at a stoplight in Burlington County. While waiting for the light to turn green, another vehicle rear-ended him. The other driver did not notice our client’s car and failed to stop his own vehicle in time. As a result, the collision totaled our client’s vehicle and caused severe physical trauma. our client brought his pickup truck to a legal stop at a stoplight in Burlington County. While waiting for the light to turn green, another vehicle rear-ended him. The other driver did not notice our client’s car and failed to stop his own vehicle in time. As a result, the collision totaled our client’s vehicle and caused severe physical trauma. Our client did everything right. He saw the vehicles in front of his truck stop at the intersection when the light changed and came to a stop himself. He didn’t hear the other vehicle attempt to stop, but he felt the impact. The other vehicle hit our client’s F150, causing our client to slam into his steering wheel and bend it. When he tried to turn around to see what happened, the severe pain in his neck prevented him from doing so. He had trouble moving at all and waited for the Medford EMS to arrive so that they could move him safely. Only after the accident did he learn that the other driver hit his truck so hard that the at-fault driver’s vehicle was stuck under the truck bed. Our client received treatment at the hospital, but he’ll have the injuries he sustained for the rest of his life. The injuries to his neck were so severe that he required surgery and years of therapy. Despite the best efforts of the doctors treating him, our client could not return to full-time work. With mounting medical bills, a totaled car, and an uncertain future, he reached out to Console & Associates P.C.
When he called our office, our New Jersey car accident attorneys reviewed his claim and knew that we could help. We understand New Jersey’s car accident liability laws, and put that experience to work for him.
Making a car crash claim is about more than paying the medical bills. His injuries left our client with chronic pain and disability that limited his ability to work for the rest of his life. Console & Associates P.C. spoke with employment and medical experts to learn the true cost of our client’s injuries. When compiling the evidence on behalf of our client, we took all of this information into account. When we filed the lawsuit, we seek compensation for:
We filed the claim with the superior court of New Jersey in November of 2017. On January 29, 2018, we recovered $585,000 for our client.
In this case, our client was rear-ended on I-295 in New Jersey. The crash caused our client’s car to spin out and crash with their car a second time. The driver that caused the rear-end crash was drunk with a 0.17 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) which is twice the legal limit in NJ. The client experienced lumber disc herniations and had 2 epidural injections.
In this case, our client was rear-ended while driving on the NJ turnpike by a tractor trailer. They sufferd cervical herniations and had a 2 level cervical discectomy. He worked in construction and was no longer able to do the same type of work due to the injury. Nothing can replace the career he lost or make up for his pain and suffering. But this insurance settlement will help him rebuild his life and help make up for the income the accident cost him.
In this case, our client drove northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike to get from his home in Monroe Township to his job in Elizabeth. He was driving through the Borough of Carteret in Middlesex County when a tractor-trailer rear-ended his vehicle, sending him spinning and then colliding with his car a second time. Even before the collision, our client had noticed the tractor-trailer tailgating him. Witnesses to the crash stated that the truck had been speeding and changing lanes recklessly from the time the driver crossed state lines between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, going so far as to call the tractor trailer’s driving “an accident waiting to happen.” Our client had been trying to get out of the dangerous truck driver’s path when the accident occurred, but none of his attempts to safely evade the truck proved sufficient. The rainy, icy road conditions and the tractor-trailer driver’s aggressive behavior were a disastrous combination that caused our client serious, lasting injuries.
Among his injuries were herniated discs in the cervical and lumbar regions of his spine and bulging discs in the cervical, lumbar, and thoracic regions. He also suffered neuropathy, or nerve damage, in his wrist. Our client received months of chiropractic care, acupuncture, and physical therapy as well as epidural shots, but these treatments just weren’t enough. Nearly a year and a half after the collision, he had to undergo discectomy surgery in the lumbar region of his spine.
Still, his injuries continue to affect his life. He lives with pain, numbness, and tingling in his affected body parts, experiencing some of these symptoms on a daily basis. He has been forced to give up golfing and can no longer perform many of the household duties he once did, like shoveling snow, cleaning the gutters, and gardening. He missed extensive time at work, both after the accident and again during recovery from his discectomy surgery, causing his family to lose out on the income on which it depended. Our New Jersey truck accident attorneys fought to get this client $115,000 in compensation. It was obvious to us that he deserved the full amount of compensation he could get for the toll the accident has taken on his health and his finances and for the suffering he must now face every single day.
If you, too, were rear-ended while stopped, rest assured that you’re far from alone. Historically, rear-end accidents have been the most frequently occurring kind of crash in the United States, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A study by the NHTSA noted that 38 percent of rear-end collisions occurred when the vehicle in front was stopped, while 45 percent of these accidents occurred while the lead vehicle was slowing down.
After getting rear-ended while stopped, you probably have a lot of questions. Our attorneys are familiar with the challenges and injuries that are unique to rear-end auto accidents, and we’re happy to answer your questions and walk you through the legal process at no charge during a free, confidential consultation.
One thing victims should know about getting rear-ended while stopped is that, in the vast majority of rear-end collisions – there are exceptions, but they are rare – the person who gets hit is not the one at fault. The other driver is typically at fault for failing to maintain sufficient traveling distance to stop in time and for failing to control their vehicle.
After getting rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light or stop sign – or while stuck in traffic – it’s not unusual for you to face blame from the other driver. The motorist who hit you may argue that you “should have gone” before the light changed or during what they feel was enough of a break in traffic. They might try to diminish their own responsibility for the crash, saying things like, “I didn’t see you,” as though that’s somehow your fault instead of theirs.
Don’t fall for it. Except in unusual circumstances, such as if you backed up into the other car or you cut the other driver off by merging right in front of them without having enough space, the driver who rear-ends another car is the one who is legally at fault for the accident. The person who hit you is the one who will likely by cited with a traffic violation at the scene and whose insurance company will have to pay your rear-end auto accident claim.
Although rear-end accidents are sometimes referred to as “fender benders,” they actually can lead to serious, life-changing injuries, like the ones our client in the story above suffered.
When you get rear-ended while stopped, the impact is no longer limited to the force of one vehicle striking another one that was already moving in the same direction. Instead, you have the impact of a moving vehicle abruptly plowing into a vehicle that was at a complete stop. Even seemingly minor injuries should be evaluated by a doctor.
This impact and sudden, jolting acceleration forward can lead to injuries that can be serious, including:
Remember, the driver who struck your vehicle is probably the one to blame for this accident. They are responsible for the consequences, and you have the right to seek compensation from their insurance company. Injuries from rear-end auto accidents can cause life-altering results. If you are looking for more real-life examples of car accident injury settlements, here are some of the articles we recommend reading regarding outcomes for our clients:
Every case is different and every result is different. If you are considering compensation for your injuries after being in a rear-end car accident, contact us today for a free consultation.
Imagine that you have the right of way and are traveling through an intersection when another driver blows right through a stop sign without ever stopping, hits you from behind at a high rate of speed, and then tries to leave the scene. You manage to get the other driver’s insurance information and file a police report, but that doesn’t fix the damage to your car or heal the injuries to your spine.
Unfortunately for this client, the at-fault driver’s insurance company in this case took “blaming the victim” to a whole new level. The adjuster called our office and actually tried to talk the paralegal working on the case out of representing the client at all. Why? Because he has “priors,” or a history of prior accidents.
No reasonable person could possibly pin the fault for this particular collision on the victim. What should he have done? Assumed that the driver approaching the stop sign was going to defy the law and barrel into the intersection without even slowing down? Should our client have violated the law himself and sped through the intersection to make sure that if the other driver did run the stop sign, his car would be out of the way?
It’s absurd to even suggest that a person injured in a rear-end collision as he proceeded through the intersection with the right of way should have known that the other motorist was reckless. To say so effectively removes all personal responsibility from the person who actually broke the law and caused the accident. As a representative of an auto insurance company, the adjuster knew that. Yet while speaking to our paralegal, this adjuster recommended that our firm stop pursuing the claim because our client’s past accidents meant that this was “not a worthwhile case” and even went so far as to imply that our client was committing fraud.
Last time we checked, it wasn’t against the law to be unlucky.
Fortunately for the victim, we weren’t about to let the insurance company get away with blaming him for an accident that he could do nothing to prevent. “No matter what, you always have your client’s back,” our paralegal said, and continued fighting to get the victim the compensation he deserved.
All drivers owe others on the road a duty of care to safely operate their car. While the exact nature of a motorist’s duty varies, depending on traffic and weather conditions, the basic principle is that they must follow all traffic laws and exercise sound judgment while behind the wheel. When looking at how most rear-end accidents occur, it is no surprise that, in most cases, the driver who rear-ends the other vehicle is at fault. For example, below are four common scenarios:
In each of these situations, the driver coming from behind is likely the one who is at fault. However, there are some scenarios where both drivers may share the blame for a rear-end accident.
For instance, consider the following examples:
In each of these cases, it isn’t that the rear-ending driver is not at all responsible, but that the leading driver may share responsibility for the accident. This can have a major impact when it comes to a subsequent personal injury case filed by the accident victim.
As indicated above, some rear-end accidents are solely the fault of the rear-ending driver. In these cases, the accident victim can file a personal injury case against the other driver, seeking compensation for their injuries.
In situations involving shared responsibility, the accident victim will still be permitted to file a claim against the other driver. However, the total amount of damages they can recover will be reduced by their percentage of fault. For example, assume that John rear-ended Terry and that John was 70 percent at fault and Terry 30 percent at fault. If Terry’s damages were $200,000, then he would recover a total of $140,000, which is the amount of his total damages, less 30 percent.
As indicated above, some rear-end accidents are solely the fault of the rear-ending driver. In these cases, the accident victim can file a personal injury case against the other driver, seeking compensation for their injuries.
In situations involving shared responsibility, the accident victim will still be permitted to file a claim against the other driver. However, the total amount of damages they can recover will be reduced by their percentage of fault. For example, assume that John rear-ended Terry and that John was 70 percent at fault and Terry 30 percent at fault. If Terry’s damages were $200,000, then he would recover a total of $140,000, which is the amount of his total damages, less 30 percent.
Just about all NJ car accident lawyers will tell you that the first priority is always your safety. Then, alert authorities and make sure everyone in both cars goes to the hospital to get their injuries checked. Adrenaline can kick in during and after an accident, meaning that you may not be aware of an injury until a while later. It’s very important that you have a doctor check you. You might suffer from whiplash, broken bones or any number of other possibilities that may not be readily apparent.
Console & Associates has helped countless people like yourself recover from their injuries and reclaim their lives after a car crash. We’ve handled thousands of car accident claims and recovered more than $100 million for our clients over 25 years.
We know that it’s hard to focus on healing when you’re worried about the financial burden the accident has caused. That’s why we offer our No Fee Promise, which means if we don’t get you money, you don’t pay us anything. We advance all costs associated with filing your claim and there’s no risk – no up front costs and no legal fees unless we win.
Let us take care of your claim so you can focus on what matters most – getting better.
Call a member of our legal team today at (866) 778-5500 for a free, confidential case evaluation.
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“I was very impressed with Console & Associates law firm. All whole staff is very professional from the first call to settlement. It’s hard to find genuine and knowledgeable attorneys these days. I recommend this law firm to anyone in need of an injury attorney. Thank you so much!”
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