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    • Scott Pryor
      Scott Pryor
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      Attorney at Law - Scott is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and is listed in the top 1% of trial attorneys in the nation by the Litigator Awards. He is also a member of Super Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association—Champion Level and sits on the Communications Committee of GTLA, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

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    • James MacLelland
      James MacLelland
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      COO - James has 25 years of experience building productive teams, scalable processes, and profitable businesses.  Immediately prior to joining The Scott Pryor Law Group, as COO of a national law firm, James built and operated one of the largest legal intake teams in the country. Guiding a team of 70 individuals running 24/7 and 365 days a year they successfully marketed, retained, and onboarded over 200 new clients to the firm daily, achieving a pace and capacity of over 50,000 new clients annually. 

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    • Philip Lorenz
      Philip Lorenz
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      Attorney at Law - Philip W. (“Phil”) Lorenz is a seasoned trial attorney, Phil has tried, mediated, or facilitated settlement of tens of millions of dollars in claims and lawsuits over the course of his career.

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    • Paul Dietrick
      Paul Dietrick
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      Attorney at Law - Paul A. Dietrick has practiced civil trial law for over forty years, in State and Federal Courts, and Georgia Appellate Courts. Paul is a zealous guardian of the rights of those injured by the negligence and carelessness of others. Paul’s clients have recovered millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.

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    • Jocelyn Galloway
      Jocelyn Galloway
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      Attorney at Law - Jocelyn Galloway is an attorney with over a decade of experience and a legal process innovator who has dedicated her career to protecting the rights of plaintiffs against large corporations.

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    • Angie Hemmings
      Angie Hemmings
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      Client Experience Manager - Angie joined The Scott Pryor Law Group and quickly made her mark on the Firm. Her previous employment on staff at a local church prepared Angie for her current role in client relations and marketing. Meeting prospective clients, checking in regularly with current clients, and staying in touch with former clients are what Angie is passionate about. She wants you to know that you and your family are important to her.

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    • Rhonda Anzaldua
      Rhonda Anzaldua
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      Marketing Manager - Rhonda brings over 20 years of customer service and hospitality experience to the marketing and intake team. She is passionate about providing our clients with an outstanding experience from the very first day, and prides herself in her ability to be straightforward and honest but also able to empathize and offer comfort in the difficult conversations.

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    • Steve Ware
      Steve Ware
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      Senior Case Manager

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    • Meet Everyone
      Meet Everyone
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      Click on "Read More" to meet our full team!

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  • Practice Areas
    When a loved one is killed because of another's negligence, it is important to hold them responsible...
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    Allow us to fight for you after a serious injury has occurred in order to recover compensation and aid in the recovery process.
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    A quick moment in time, a sudden slamming of the brakes, or a loud blare of a horn can be all the time you have to prepare yourself in the event of a car accident.
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    According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number one leading...
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    Motorcycle accidents often involve catastrophic injuries, such as a head or spinal cord injury because the driver...
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    To hold a negligent property owner or business responsible for the damage they have caused, contact us today.
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    Bicycle accidents often involve catastrophic or deadly injuries because of the difference in size between a bicycle...
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    Children are our pride and joy, and we do everything we can to protect them. That’s why it is even more devastating...
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    A faulty construction machine that destroys your property, undisclosed side effects in over-the-counter medication, a poorly designed toy...
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    If you have been injured at work, your employer should pay for your medical treatment. While employers and insurance companies...
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    Slips and falls can result in surprisingly serious injuries. Even otherwise healthy people can suffer from severe harm due to a simple fall.
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    Any accident on or near the water—whether on a dock, between two boats, or resulting from a collision with swimmers—could result in...
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  • Results
    $3,800,000
    Bad Faith Case
    $1,200,000
    Car Accident
    $5,400,000
    Fraudulent Conduct
    $4,500,000
    Trucking Accident
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Am I Always at Fault if I Hit Another Car From Behind?

While getting into a car accident is often a scary experience, it is also one that brings forth a lot of confusion. Who are you supposed to talk to? What are you supposed to say? Is something you say going to get you in more trouble? These are normal questions to wonder after getting into an accident, especially after getting into a rear-end accident.

If you have recently been in a rear-end accident, then you may have noticed the way that everybody acted like it was clearly your fault. This is because it is usually the person that struck the vehicle from behind that is at fault. While there are exceptions to this, it is almost a rule that the person who struck the driver from behind is at fault.

To understand why this is, we are going to look at the way that rear-end accidents typically play out. This is based on the concept of the duty of care that we owe each other when driving since most rear-end accidents are clear failures to uphold this duty. Then we’ll look at some situations where the driver who is at fault would be the driver in the front. Finally, we’ll see what happens when blame is shared between both drivers involved in a rear-end collision.

How Do Rear-End Accidents Typically Play Out?

Rear-end accidents most often occur when the driver in front brakes suddenly and the car behind them slams into their rear. This can cause damage to both cars, and either driver may be injured in the process.

Common causes of rear-end accidents include:

  • Speeding
  • Tailgating
  • Failure to pay attention to the road
  • Failure to yield the right-of-way
  • Sudden lane changes
  • Driving too fast for the amount of traffic
  • Driving too fast for the weather conditions
  • Driving while intoxicated
  • Driving while fatigued
  • A failure to keep an eye out for road hazards
  • Driving a vehicle with mechanical issues

A shared thread between these common causes of rear-end accidents is that many of them are due to a failure to uphold a duty of care. Whenever we get behind the wheel of a car, we have a duty of care to other drivers on the road. Technically, we owe a duty of care in many other situations; for example, a pedestrian owes a duty of care to drivers that they won’t just run out into the road randomly.

The duty of care that a driver owes is to pay attention to the road, follow the rules, and act accordingly. A failure to do so, such as by speeding or operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, leaves that individual liable for any damages their negligence, recklessness, or carelessness causes.

Most rear-end accidents occur because the person in the car behind failed to uphold their duty of care. Typically this means they were going too fast, staying too close to the car in front of them, or some other form of reckless driving. As such, it is presumed that the driver that rear-ended the vehicle in front of them will be the one at fault. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

When Might a Rear-End Accident be the Driver in Front’s Fault?

While rear-end accidents are mostly found to be the fault of the driver in the rear, this isn’t always the case. There are several different ways in which the driver in the front could be found to be responsible for the accident. These include:

  • When the driver in the front is operating a vehicle with mechanical problems. It is hard for those in the rear to brake in time if the car in front of them has faulty brake lights, for example.
  • When the driver in front makes a sudden and unpredictable maneuver. Most rear-end accidents happen because the individual in the front broke suddenly and the driver in the rear was following too closely; braking suddenly isn’t considered an unpredictable maneuver, but something like suddenly swerving or reversing would be.
  • When the driver in front fails to tend to a driving hazard, for example, they may suffer a blowout but fail to put on their hazard lights.
  • When the accident is due to a chain reaction, say you are rear-ended yourself, and the force of the blow pushes you into the back of the car in front of you. Should the fault for the accident lie with you or with the individual that struck you?

In that last example, it would seem obvious for the fault to be that of the individual that struck you. But what if you were also partly responsible because you were tailgating the car in front of you? To answer this, we need to look at Georgia’s modified comparative negligence laws.

What Happens If the Driver I Hit and I Are Both at Fault?

In Georgia, we use a modified version of the comparative negligence laws that many states have in place. This means that multiple parties can be found to share responsibility for an accident. The party that has less responsibility will be eligible to recover damages.

If both parties are shown to share the same responsibility (50%), then neither party would be able to recover damages because they are both equally responsible. So the damages are each individual’s own responsibility. But if one party is found to be 51% responsible, then the other party can recover damages, even if they are 49% responsible.

What Should I Do Following a Rear-End Accident?

The first things that you should do following a rear-end accident are to capture as much of the accident as possible, as well as seek medical attention. Rear-end accident cases can be quite difficult to win, so it’s important to gather as much evidence of the scene as possible. It is also vital that you reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney that can help you to build a compelling argument as to why you deserve compensation when you were the driver in the rear.

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6185 Crooked Creek Rd NW
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Peachtree Corners, GA 30092
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