RAFKIND v. CLARK

Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

It is undisputed that the plaintiffs were stopped in traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway when their car was hit from the rear by a van driven by the defendant Lawrence E. Clark and owned by the defendant Thomas Young Trucking. This Court has previously held that such a rear-end collision creates a prima facie case of liability on the part of the defendant, imposing a duty of explanation on the part of the driver of the offending vehicle (Young v City of New York, 113 A.D.2d 833, 834; see, Benyarko v Avis Rent A Car Sys., 162 A.D.2d 572, 573; O'Callaghan v Flitter, 112 A.D.2d 1030). The defendants' conclusory speculations in opposition to the plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment were insufficient to rebut the inference of negligence and to raise a triable issue of fact with respect to liability (see, Young v City of New York, supra; Benyarko v Avis Rent A Car Sys., supra). Thus, the plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment (see, Andre v Pomeroy, 35 N.Y.2d 361; O'Callaghan v Flitter, supra). Bracken, J.P., O'Brien, Ritter, Friedmann and Goldstein, JJ., concur.