A recent First Department decision, Cruz v. Lise, held that the plaintiff – whose car was rear-ended by the defendant’s car – was entitled to summary judgment.
In reversing the lower court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the court held:
In support of her motion, plaintiff submitted an affidavit averring that she had stopped at an intersection when her car was hit in the rear by defendant’s vehicle. Since a rear-end collision with a stopped or stopping vehicle establishes a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the driver of the rear vehicle, this was sufficient to shift the burden to defendant to come forward with an adequate nonnegligent explanation for the accident. Defendant’s affidavit asserting that plaintiff suddenly stopped in front of him, standing alone, was insufficient to rebut the presumption of negligence. (Emphasis added.)