GARCES v. KARABELAS

Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

A rear-end collision with a stopped vehicle creates a prima facie case of negligence with respect to the operator of the moving vehicle and imposes a duty on the operator of the moving vehicle to provide a nonnegligent explanation for the happening of the accident to rebut the inference of negligence ( see Hollis v. Kellog, 306 AD2d 244; Leal v. Wolff, 224 AD2d 392).

The evidence presented by the defendants Bruce Kahl and Lindsay B. Kahl (hereinafter the Kahls) was sufficient, as a matter of law, to place sole responsibility for the motor vehicle accident upon the defendants Alexander H. Karabelas and Alexis M. Karabelas ( see Rebecchi v. Whitmore, 172 AD2d 600). In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether the Kahls were negligent and, if so, whether such negligence was a proximate cause of the accident ( see Irmiyayeva v. Thompson, 296 AD2d 439; Jeremic v. Tong, 283 AD2d 461; Espinoza v. Diaz, 280 AD2d 639).