Guadalupe Martinez was injured when her car was rear-ended by a car driven by Darren Adderly, Jr. on Gandy Blvd near the Crab Shack restaurant.  Martinez was reportedly slowing down when the accident occurred.  After the accident, Martinez’s vehicle ran into the Crab Shack.  A passenger in Adderly’s car, Adam Gonzalez, was also injured.  Florida Statute 316.1925, titled “Careless driving,” provides that “Any person operating a vehicle upon the streets or highways within the state shall drive the same in a careful and prudent manner, having regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic, and all other attendant circumstances, so as not to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.”  There is a legal presumption that the rear vehicle’s driver was negligent in a rear-end accident, unless there is evidence that the front vehicle’s driver suddenly, arbitrarily, and unexpectedly stopped for no good reason.  See Clampitt v. D.J. Spencer Sales,  786 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 2001).

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