Fort Lauderdale Rear-End Accident Lawyer
Serving Fort Lauderdale and Clients Throughout Florida
Millions Recovered for Accident Victims
Written and reviewed by Yana Kurzman, Esq.
Founder, Kurzman Law Group
Attorney since 1994 | Florida attorney since 2011 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Attorney Bio | Florida Bar Profile
Last reviewed: September 14, 2026
Rear-ended in Fort Lauderdale? Call Kurzman Law Group as soon as possible—preferably while you are still at the scene if you are able to do so. We represent people after rear-end crashes in Fort Lauderdale and throughout Florida and can guide you through the immediate decisions involving medical care, insurance, towing, vehicle repairs, rental transportation, and your potential injury claim.
After a rear-end collision, most people are not thinking about a lawsuit. They are thinking about practical problems.
Who is going to pay to repair the car? Should you call your own insurance company or wait for the other driver’s insurer? Where will the damaged vehicle be taken? Who pays for a rental car? What if you think you are fine at the scene but begin hurting later?
Those questions often arise before someone even thinks of themselves as “injured.” Immediately after an accident, people may be frightened, shaken, focused on their vehicle, or simply trying to get home. Neck pain, back pain, headaches, stiffness, soreness, numbness, or other symptoms may become more noticeable later. A rear-end accident often creates two separate but related problems: what happens to the vehicle and what happens to the people inside it.
That is why we encourage people to call Kurzman Law Group early rather than trying to figure out the insurance process alone.
Related resource: Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer
What Should I Do
Immediately After a Rear-End Accident?
Start with safety. If anyone may be seriously hurt, call 911. If emergency personnel recommend that you be evaluated or transported, the decision should be based on your medical condition and safety—not simply on concern about what an ambulance or emergency-room visit may cost. If you are dizzy, confused, in significant pain, having difficulty moving, or experiencing another symptom that could make driving unsafe, do not try to drive yourself simply because you want to avoid an ambulance.
If you are able to do so safely, call Kurzman Law Group from the scene. We can begin guiding you through what to do next. If possible, photograph the vehicles, the damage, roadway, debris, traffic controls, and vehicle positions. Obtain witness contact information and exchange identifying and insurance information with the other driver.
When speaking with the investigating officer, give accurate factual information about what you actually remember. Do not guess, speculate, or make legal conclusions about fault. A person who has just been struck may be frightened, confused, or uncertain about exactly what happened. Be especially careful with insurance communications that begin shortly after the collision.
An adjuster may call before you know the extent of your injuries or even before you have had time to process what happened. Before giving a recorded statement, discussing how the crash happened, discussing your physical condition, signing authorizations or releases, or discussing settlement, speak with an attorney. Your own insurance carrier may need prompt notice of the accident, but reporting a collision is different from giving a detailed statement about liability or injuries.
Call Kurzman Law Group early so we can guide you through the process and communicate with the insurance carriers on your behalf.
Related resource: What Should I Do Immediately After a Car Accident in Florida?
Who Pays to Repair My Car After a Rear-End Accident?
For many people, this is the first major concern. If another driver caused the collision, that driver’s property-damage liability coverage may pay to repair your vehicle or pay its value if the vehicle is declared a total loss. But the process is not always immediate. The insurer may investigate how the collision happened, inspect the vehicle, obtain an estimate, and determine whether repair costs make economic sense compared with the vehicle’s value.
Depending on your own automobile policy, collision coverage may provide another way to get the vehicle repaired while responsibility between the insurers is being addressed. The vehicle-damage claim and the bodily-injury claim are related but legally different. Resolving the car damage should not accidentally resolve the injury claim. Kurzman Law Group can help you understand which insurer should be handling the vehicle, what paperwork you are being asked to sign, and how the property-damage process fits into the larger claim.
Related resource: Who Pays for Vehicle Damage After a Car Accident?
Should I Call the Insurance Company
If I Was Rear-Ended?
The accident generally needs to be reported promptly to the appropriate insurance carrier, including your own insurer when required by your policy. But reporting an accident is not the same thing as giving an insurance company a detailed statement about fault, injuries, treatment, or the value of your claim. Insurance adjusters work for the insurance company. They do not represent you.
Before giving a recorded statement, discussing how the accident happened, discussing your injuries, signing medical authorizations or releases, or negotiating settlement, call Kurzman Law Group first. We can communicate with the insurance carriers on your behalf and help make sure important rights are not compromised while you are still trying to understand what happened. Your own automobile policy may become important even when another driver clearly caused the collision. Depending on the coverage you purchased and the circumstances of the crash, your policy may provide benefits involving vehicle damage, rental transportation, medical expenses, or an uninsured or underinsured driver.
Related resource: Do I Need to Report a Car Accident to My Insurance Company?
Where Can I Take My Car for Repairs?
Insurance companies frequently have preferred or participating repair facilities, but an insurer’s recommendation does not necessarily mean that shop is your only option. Vehicle repairs can become more complicated once the shop begins taking the vehicle apart and discovers damage that was not visible during the first inspection. That may result in supplemental estimates, additional insurer inspections, questions about replacement parts, longer repair times, or a decision that the vehicle should be declared a total loss. Before authorizing repairs or moving a badly damaged vehicle, it helps to understand which insurer is handling the property-damage claim and what inspection process is required.
Kurzman Law Group can help guide you through those issues while handling the injury claim and insurance communications.
Related resource: Where Can I Take My Car for Repairs After an Accident?
Who Pays for a Rental Car?
Rental transportation is another common source of frustration after a rear-end crash. If the other driver’s insurer accepts responsibility, that carrier may pay reasonable rental expenses while the damaged vehicle is being repaired, subject to the available coverage and circumstances. If you purchased rental reimbursement coverage under your own policy, your insurer may also provide rental benefits according to the policy terms. Problems can arise over when rental coverage begins, how long it continues, what happens if repairs are delayed, and how quickly the rental must be returned after a vehicle is declared a total loss.
These issues are easier to address early than after substantial rental expenses have accumulated.
Related resource: Who Pays for a Rental Car After a Car Accident?
What Happens If My Car Has to Be Towed?
If your vehicle cannot safely be driven, it may be removed from the scene and placed in a tow yard or storage facility. Tow and daily storage charges can increase quickly. Find out where the vehicle was taken and contact Kurzman Law Group as soon as possible. We can help you understand which insurer should be notified, whether the vehicle needs to be inspected, and what needs to happen next so it does not remain in storage unnecessarily while charges continue to accumulate.
Related resource: Who Tows My Car After an Accident and Who Pays?
What If I Thought I Was Fine but Started Having Pain Later?
This happens frequently after rear-end collisions. At the scene, a person may be focused on the damaged vehicle, talking to police, exchanging insurance information, calling family members, or arranging transportation. They may genuinely believe they are fine. Later that evening or the following day, they may begin noticing neck pain, back pain, headaches, stiffness, shoulder pain, soreness, numbness, tingling, or difficulty moving normally.
Do not ignore new symptoms simply because you told someone at the scene that you felt fine. And do not tell an insurance adjuster that you are not injured simply because you do not yet know. If symptoms develop, appropriate medical care should be based on your actual condition.
Florida law generally requires you to receive initial medical care within 14 days after a motor-vehicle accident. If you do not see a medical provider within that 14-day period, you may lose access to PIP medical coverage for that accident.
Related resources: What If Pain Starts Hours or Days After a Car Accident? · How Do I Get Medical Treatment After a Car Accident in Florida? · Florida No-Fault Rule After a Car Accident
Should I Go to the Emergency Room After a Rear-End Accident?
Not every rear-end collision requires emergency-room care. But the decision should be based on your medical condition and safety—not simply on whether the vehicle looks badly damaged or whether an ambulance seems expensive. If you have significant pain, dizziness, confusion, weakness, numbness, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, difficulty moving, or another potentially serious symptom, appropriate emergency evaluation may be necessary. If emergency personnel recommend transport because of potentially serious symptoms, do not make the decision solely based on fear of cost.
Likewise, do not drive yourself if your physical condition may make driving unsafe. If you are able, call Kurzman Law Group from the scene or have a family member call us. We can begin handling the insurance and claim issues while you focus on obtaining appropriate medical care.
The emergency room is designed to evaluate acute and potentially serious conditions. It is not generally intended to replace appropriate follow-up treatment over the following weeks.
Related resource: Should I Go to the ER After a Car Accident?
What If I Cannot Get an Appointment
With My Doctor Right Away?
Do not simply wait for weeks while symptoms continue because one doctor’s office cannot see you. The appropriate place for medical care depends on your symptoms and medical needs. Emergency symptoms require emergency evaluation. Other symptoms may be appropriately evaluated through urgent care, primary care, or another qualified medical provider.
Kurzman Law Group can help explain how the Florida automobile-insurance process works and, when legally permissible, assist you in locating medical providers near you if you do not already have an appropriate provider. Medical decisions themselves should always be made by qualified healthcare professionals. When you see a medical provider, give an accurate history. Explain that you were involved in a collision, when your symptoms began, which areas hurt, whether the symptoms have changed, and how they are affecting you.
Do not exaggerate your symptoms, but do not minimize them either.
Related resource: How Do I Get Medical Treatment After a Car Accident in Florida?
Who Pays My Medical Bills
After a Rear-End Accident?
This is one of the most confusing parts of a Florida car-accident claim. People understandably assume that if another driver rear-ended them, that driver’s insurer will immediately begin paying their medical bills. Florida generally does not work that way. Different insurance coverages may become relevant depending on the circumstances, including PIP, health insurance, optional medical-payments coverage, the responsible driver’s bodily-injury insurance, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Which coverage applies depends on the policies and circumstances involved. You do not need to determine that on your own. Kurzman Law Group can identify available insurance coverage, communicate with the carriers, and help guide the medical-billing and claim process. And again, you generally must receive initial medical care within 14 days after the crash or you may lose access to PIP medical coverage for the accident.
Related resource: Who Pays My Medical Bills After a Florida Car Accident?
Is the Rear Driver Always Responsible for a Rear-End Collision in Florida?
The rear driver is often responsible, but every collision still needs to be evaluated based on its actual facts. Florida Statute §316.0895 requires a driver not to follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, taking into account vehicle speed, traffic, and roadway conditions. Florida courts also recognize a rebuttable presumption of negligence against the rear driver when one vehicle strikes another from behind. The presumption exists in part because the driver of the vehicle in front is often unable to see exactly what the following driver was doing immediately before impact, and the rear driver is generally in the better position to explain why the collision could not be avoided.
A presumption is not the same as automatic liability. A rear driver may attempt to rebut it with evidence showing that the collision occurred because of another circumstance, or that the rear driver’s negligence was not the sole legal cause of the crash. When the evidence creates a legitimate factual dispute about causation or comparative fault, those issues may have to be resolved on the evidence rather than on the presumption alone. Rear-end crashes can nevertheless involve unusual circumstances.
A vehicle may suddenly move into another lane. One vehicle may be pushed into another during a chain reaction. Multiple drivers may contribute to the collision. That is why the actual evidence matters.
Vehicle damage, photographs, witness statements, dash-camera footage, nearby surveillance video, roadway evidence, police records, and the sequence of impacts may all help determine what happened. Kurzman Law Group investigates the collision rather than simply accepting the insurance company’s version of events.
What If the Other Driver Says
I Stopped Suddenly?
That allegation does not automatically determine responsibility. Traffic regularly requires drivers to slow or stop because of red lights, congestion, pedestrians, turning traffic, or vehicles ahead. A following driver is expected to account for ordinary traffic conditions and maintain a reasonable and prudent distance. But the facts still matter.
An unusual or unexpected event may affect the analysis, which is why the collision should be evaluated using the available evidence rather than relying only on what either driver says afterward. Evidence that can bear on a sudden-stop allegation may include witness testimony, dash-camera footage, surveillance video, vehicle positions, brake-light evidence, traffic-signal timing, photographs, physical damage patterns, event-data information where available, and statements made at the scene. This is why we do not treat a rear-end accident as an automatic-liability file and stop investigating.
What If Several Vehicles Were Involved?
A rear-end crash may actually be part of a larger chain reaction. For example, one vehicle may stop for traffic, a second vehicle may stop behind it, and a third vehicle may strike the second car hard enough to push it into the first. Someone in the middle vehicle may experience more than one impact. In another case, separate impacts may occur seconds apart.
In those cases, asking simply who rear-ended whom may not be enough. The investigation may need to determine the order of impacts, whether each driver had stopped before being struck, which impact caused which damage, and which insurance policies apply. Determining the sequence may require comparing damage to each vehicle, occupant descriptions of the number and timing of impacts, witness statements, police findings, video footage, vehicle data, and repair documentation. A multi-vehicle rear-end crash should not automatically be analyzed as though every driver who struck a vehicle ahead caused the collision.
More than one driver and more than one insurer may be involved. Early investigation can matter because vehicles are repaired, surveillance footage can disappear, and witnesses become harder to locate.
Related page: Multi-Vehicle Crashes
What Evidence Matters
After a Rear-End Collision?
A rear-end case often turns on evidence that disappears quickly.
Photographs of Both Vehicles
Photograph your vehicle and the other driver’s vehicle, even when the damage to your own car appears minor. This is particularly important because the two vehicles may absorb and display impact differently. Your bumper may show relatively limited visible damage while the striking vehicle shows much more extensive front-end damage — or vice versa. Photographs should capture the full front, rear, and sides of both vehicles; close-ups of the areas of impact; broken or displaced vehicle parts; bumper height and impact alignment; debris at the scene; vehicle positions before they are moved, when it is safe to photograph them; license plates; skid marks or roadway evidence; and traffic lights, signs, and surrounding roadway conditions.
Do not photograph only your own bumper. The damage pattern on the other driver’s vehicle can sometimes be just as important as the damage to yours when an insurer later disputes the force, angle, or circumstances of impact.
Call the Police and Document the Crash
When someone reports pain or injury after a crash, Florida’s crash-reporting statute requires a long-form crash report in circumstances specified by §316.066, including crashes involving death, personal injury, or an indication of pain or discomfort. If you are hurt, tell the responding officer. Do not minimize pain simply because you are shaken up or hoping it will disappear. A responding officer can document information such as the drivers and vehicles involved, insurance information, passengers, witnesses, the location and circumstances of the crash, statements made at the scene, and visible vehicle damage.
The police report does not necessarily decide civil liability, but contemporaneous documentation can become important when the parties later disagree about what occurred.
Get the Witnesses Before They Leave
Independent witnesses can become extremely important in rear-end cases — especially if the other driver later claims you suddenly cut into the lane, you stopped for no reason, your brake lights were not working, another vehicle caused the collision, or the crash happened differently from what you remember. Do not assume the police officer obtained everyone’s information. If possible, obtain the witness’s name, telephone number, email address, and a brief indication of what they observed. A witness who disappears after leaving the scene may be extremely difficult to locate months later.
Can a Rear-End Collision
Cause Significant Injuries?
Yes. The appearance of the bumper does not determine what happened to the people inside the vehicle. Insurance companies sometimes focus heavily on photographs showing limited visible property damage. But photographs are evidence of vehicle damage — they are not, by themselves, a medical diagnosis.
Vehicle design, bumper systems, vehicle size, the angle of impact, seat position, occupant characteristics, prior movement of the vehicles, speed changes, medical history, and other factors can affect both the damage pattern and what happened to the people inside. That is one reason we want photographs of both vehicles, repair estimates where available, and the medical evidence documenting the client’s condition after the collision. Some people recover quickly from soreness. Others may require diagnostic testing, therapy, injections, surgery, or other treatment.
The medical evidence—not assumptions based only on photographs of the vehicle—should determine whether an injury occurred and what treatment is appropriate.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Rear-End Accident?
Compensation is not automatic simply because one vehicle struck another from behind. A bodily-injury claim depends on the facts, legal responsibility, medical evidence, damages, and available insurance or other responsible parties. Depending on the circumstances, recoverable losses may include medical expenses, future medical care, lost income, loss of future earning ability, and certain non-economic damages such as pain, suffering, disability, or physical impairment. The value of a rear-end accident claim depends on the actual evidence.
There is no reliable formula that applies to every rear-end collision.
How Long Do I Have to Make a Claim?
There is no single deadline governing every issue after a rear-end crash. Insurance policies can impose prompt-notice requirements. Florida law also generally requires initial medical care within 14 days after the crash for PIP medical coverage to be available. Evidence can disappear much sooner than any lawsuit deadline.
Surveillance footage can be overwritten, vehicles can be repaired or destroyed, and witnesses can become harder to locate. Florida also imposes deadlines for filing negligence lawsuits, and different rules can apply depending on the accident date and circumstances.
Related resource: How Long Do I Have to Make a Car Accident Claim or File a Lawsuit in Florida?
Rear-End Accidents in Fort Lauderdale
Rear-end collisions occur in very different traffic environments throughout Fort Lauderdale. Stop-and-go traffic on major roads such as Broward Boulevard, Sunrise Boulevard, Federal Highway/U.S. 1, Oakland Park Boulevard, I-95, and I-595 presents different problems from collisions on smaller neighborhood streets. A driver approaching a traffic light may fail to notice that vehicles ahead have stopped.
Congested highway traffic may slow abruptly. A distracted driver may not react to changing traffic conditions until it is too late. The location of the crash can also affect what evidence may exist. Nearby businesses, residential buildings, dash cameras, traffic systems, and other sources may contain video or information relevant to how the crash occurred.
That evidence may not remain available indefinitely.
When Should I Speak With a Rear-End Accident Lawyer?
The best time to obtain guidance is early. You do not need to wait until you know the full extent of your injuries, finish dealing with the vehicle, or receive a settlement offer. Early involvement allows Kurzman Law Group to begin communicating with insurance carriers, investigating the collision, preserving available evidence, identifying insurance coverage, and helping you through the practical problems created by the crash. This can be especially important when:
- pain or other symptoms develop after the collision;
- the vehicle is badly damaged or totaled;
- you require medical treatment;
- you miss work;
- liability is disputed;
- several vehicles are involved;
- a commercial vehicle is involved;
- the other driver has limited or no insurance; or
- an insurer begins asking for statements, records, authorizations, or settlement documents.
How Can Kurzman Law Group Help After a Rear-End Collision?
After a rear-end accident, people are suddenly dealing with insurance companies, a damaged vehicle, medical appointments, transportation problems, bills, missed work, and uncertainty about what to do next. You should not have to manage all of that alone. When Kurzman Law Group represents you, our goal is to take as much of that burden off your plate as legally and practically possible. We can:
- communicate with insurance carriers on your behalf so you are not dealing with adjusters alone;
- investigate how the collision happened and preserve available evidence;
- obtain police reports, photographs, witness information, video, and other evidence when available;
- identify the responsible drivers, vehicle owners, employers, or other potentially liable parties;
- locate and evaluate available insurance coverage;
- help coordinate issues involving towing, storage, vehicle repairs, and rental transportation;
- help you understand the medical-treatment process after the accident;
- assist you in locating appropriate medical providers near you, when legally permissible, if you do not already have a provider;
- help make sure accident-related medical care and bills are properly documented;
- explain how Florida’s automobile-insurance system may apply to your claim;
- document lost income and other financial losses;
- communicate with medical providers and insurers as appropriate;
- evaluate settlement offers and advise you before anything is signed;
- negotiate the claim on your behalf; and
- file a lawsuit when litigation becomes necessary.
Our job is to guide you through the entire process, deal with the problems that arise, protect your rights, and take as much of the stress and administrative burden off you as possible so you can focus on recovering and getting your life back to normal. The earlier Kurzman Law Group becomes involved, the more opportunity we may have to preserve evidence, address insurance issues, and guide the claim before avoidable problems arise.
Why Choose Kurzman Law Group After a Rear-End Accident?
A rear-end accident can create problems far beyond the collision itself. There may be several insurance companies involved, a damaged or totaled vehicle, towing and storage charges, rental-car issues, medical appointments, bills, missed work, and questions about what you should and should not say to an adjuster. Kurzman Law Group helps clients manage those problems from the beginning. We communicate with insurance companies on your behalf, investigate the collision, identify available insurance coverage, help guide you through the medical-treatment and property-damage process, document your losses, negotiate the claim, and litigate when necessary.
Attorney Yana Kurzman has practiced law since 1994 and has been licensed in Florida since 2011. She is directly involved in the firm’s serious injury cases. Kurzman Law Group represents clients in Fort Lauderdale and throughout Florida and assists both English- and Russian-speaking clients. Our goal is to let you focus on your recovery and your daily life while we handle the legal and insurance problems created by the accident.
Fort Lauderdale Rear-End Accident FAQs
Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance adjuster?
Before discussing how the accident happened, your injuries, giving a recorded statement, signing authorizations or releases, or discussing settlement with the other driver’s insurer, speak with an attorney.
The adjuster represents the insurance company, not you.
Should I notify my own insurance company?
Your policy may require prompt notice, and your own coverage may provide important benefits.
Kurzman Law Group can guide you through what needs to be reported and communicate with the insurance carrier on your behalf.
How soon do I need to see a doctor after a car accident?
Florida law generally requires you to receive initial medical care within 14 days after a motor-vehicle accident.
If you do not see a medical provider within that 14-day period, you may lose access to PIP medical coverage for the accident.
What if I did not feel hurt until the next day?
Pain and other symptoms can become noticeable after the initial shock of a collision.
If symptoms develop, obtain appropriate medical evaluation based on your condition and contact Kurzman Law Group promptly.
Remember that the 14-day medical-treatment deadline can affect PIP coverage.
Who pays to repair my car?
Available options may include the responsible driver’s property-damage coverage or your own collision coverage.
Which route makes sense can depend on liability, available coverage, deductibles, repair timing, and other circumstances.
Can I choose my own repair shop?
An insurance company may recommend a repair facility, but that does not necessarily mean it is your only option.
Who pays for my rental car?
Rental transportation may be available through the responsible driver’s property-damage coverage or rental reimbursement purchased under your own policy, depending on the available coverage and circumstances.
What if my car was pushed into the vehicle in front of me?
The sequence of impacts should be investigated.
Being pushed forward by another vehicle is different from independently striking the vehicle ahead.
Is the rear driver always at fault?
The rear driver is often responsible, but the actual facts still matter.
Florida law requires drivers to maintain a reasonable and prudent following distance based on speed, traffic, and roadway conditions.
What if the other driver does not have enough insurance?
Other sources of coverage may exist, including coverage on the vehicle, employer or commercial policies in appropriate cases, or your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
By appointment only
Kurzman Law Group
500 E. Broward Blvd, Suite 1015
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33394
(954) 406-6464
Kurzman Law Group is located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, just one block north of Las Olas Boulevard. Our office in the Broward Financial Centre places the firm in one of the city’s most established and recognizable business districts, with convenient access from Broward Boulevard, US-1, I-95, and the Las Olas corridor.
Speak With Kurzman Law Group After a Rear-End Accident
If you were rear-ended in Fort Lauderdale or elsewhere in Florida, you do not need to wait until you know the full extent of your injuries or finish dealing with the insurance companies. Contact Kurzman Law Group as soon as you reasonably can. We can review what happened, begin handling the insurance communications, investigate the collision, and guide you through the vehicle, medical, and claim issues that follow.
Free consultation.
