It is well established that evidence of a rear-end collision with a stopped vehicle constitutes a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the operator of the moving vehicle ( see De La Cruz v Ock Wee Leong, 16 AD3d 199), which may be rebutted by evidence that the vehicle in front stopped suddenly ( see Barry v City of New York, 283 AD2d 300). Here, the motion court properly determined that issues of fact exist concerning whether the first three vehicles in this five-car accident, including appellants' cars, stopped suddenly and their reasons for doing so.