$625,000 Rear-End Collision Settlement in Queens

Hazard lights flashing, stalled on the road, our client was doing the right thing — pushing his car to the shoulder to clear the lane. A driver approaching from behind saw the hazard lights and hit the car anyway, crushing our client between the vehicle and the impact.

Rear-Ended While Pushing a Stalled Vehicle in Queens

Our client was driving in the Queens area when his vehicle stalled. He pulled over as far as he could, activated his hazard lights, and exited the vehicle with a friend to push the car from the roadway to the shoulder. While standing behind the vehicle and physically pushing it, a driver approaching from behind failed to stop and rear-ended the stalled car. The impact drove the vehicle into our client's body, trapping him momentarily between the moving car and the striking vehicle's force.

The collision caused multiple traumatic injuries: fractured ribs, a right arm injury, lumbar spine damage, and chest trauma from being compressed against the vehicle. Our client was transported to Nassau University Medical Center for emergency treatment. The rib fractures and chest trauma required careful monitoring for internal complications, while the lumbar spine and arm injuries required separate treatment courses including potential surgical intervention.

Federal Court Litigation in the Eastern District

This case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York — federal court jurisdiction that applied due to the specific circumstances of the parties involved. Federal court litigation carries different procedural requirements, stricter deadlines, and distinct discovery rules compared to state court. Our attorneys navigated the federal court system effectively, managing the case through federal discovery procedures, expert disclosure requirements, and the federal pretrial conference process.

The defense attempted to argue comparative negligence — claiming that our client bore some responsibility for being outside his vehicle on the roadway. Our attorneys dismantled that argument by establishing that our client had activated his hazard lights, was actively moving his vehicle off the road, and had taken every reasonable precaution available to him. A driver approaching a vehicle with flashing hazard lights has a duty to slow down, move over, and proceed with caution. The at-fault driver did none of those things.

"Our client did everything right — hazard lights on, actively pushing the car to the shoulder, clearing the roadway as fast as he could. The driver behind him saw the flashing lights and hit the car anyway. In federal court, we proved that our client took every reasonable precaution and that the at-fault driver failed to respond to obvious warning signals. The verdict reflected that." — Andrew Levine, Founding Partner

$625,000 Settlement for a Queens Rear-End Collision

This $625,000 federal court settlement covers rib fracture treatment, right arm care, lumbar spine treatment, chest trauma monitoring, emergency medical expenses, lost wages, and the physical limitations our client now manages. It holds the at-fault driver accountable for striking a vehicle that was clearly disabled with its hazard lights activated.

If you were injured while helping with a disabled vehicle or struck while on the roadside, our car accident attorneys have federal court experience and are ready to review your case.