Lakeland Man Dies in I-4 Car Accident
Matthew Lind, a 32-year-old resident of Lakeland, Florida, died as a result of a car accident on Interstate-4 near Interstate-75 in Hillsborough County. Lind is reported to have been driving a 2014 Mazda 6 in the eastbound direction when he struck the rear end of a 2016 Ford F-350 driven by Jerry Leab. The force of the impact pushed Leab's Ford into a 2015 Dodge driven by Tucker Prescott. The accident occurred at approximately 5:00 p.m. Traffic in front of Prescott had slowed down and come to a stop. Leab and Prescott were able to bring their vehicles to a stop but Lind did not. Lind was not wearing a seatbelt.
Case law in Florida has given rise to a "presumption of negligence" in rear-end motor-vehicle collision cases. This presumption operates to start the legal pendulum in favor of the front vehicle in a rear-end collision case. The rear vehicle in the collision can then offer evidence to rebut the presumption. Such rebuttal evidence would be to show that there was not a legal reason for the front vehicle to have stopped or that the front vehicle stopped suddenly, without warning, and not in a place where a driver would reasonably expect a vehicle to stop.
If you or a loved one sustained an injury due to a Polk County, Florida rear end collision, please consult with a Lakeland car accident attorney for a free case evaluation.
