Florida Drivers Can Challenge Presumption of Fault

Florida’s high court has ruled that drivers that cause an automobile accident by striking another car from behind can still sue the other driver for damages depending on the circumstances of the accident and the other driver’s actions.

The Florida Supreme Court recently ruled (Cevallos v. Rideout No. SC09-2238). in a case that clarified lower court rulings on the matter. At issue was to whether a presumption that the driver causing a rear-end auto accident is solely responsible for damages be rebutted under Florida’s tort system.

The case originated in a 2005 accident in which Maria Cevallos struck the back of an auto driven by Kerri Anne Rideout. Cevallos claimed that she had been driving four car lengths behind Rideout and slowed her speed to 35 miles-per-hour, but could not help making contact with Rideout’s car.

Rideout’s car was stationary after she abruptly “slammed” into another vehicle while driving 45 miles-per-hour and talking on her cellphone.

Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s ruling that barred Cevallos from suing Rideout based on the presumption that the driver initiating the rear-end collision had no standing in court.

The Supreme Court, however, said that the Fourth District’s decision ran counter to other district courts that said the presumption could be rebutted under certain circumstances. “The presumption of negligence that attaches to a rear driver in a rear-end motor vehicle collision can be rebutted or avoided by the production of evidence from which a jury could find negligence on the part of the front driver that contributed to bring about the injury-production collision,” wrote Judge Jorge Labarga.