A motorist, in stopping (his, her) car was required to do so with reasonable care and with due regard to others on the highway and to comply with Section 1163(c) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, which provides: "No person shall stop or suddenly decrease the speed of a vehicle without first giving an appropriate signal... to the driver of any vehicle immediately to the rear when there is opportunity to give such signal." Such a signal must be given either by hand and arm or by signal light. The signal must be given in enough time to give fair and adequate warning of the impending stop to operators of other cars who are driving with reasonable care. If you find that defendant CD made a sudden stop without first giving an appropriate signal, that fact is to be considered in deciding whether CD used reasonable care, but, standing alone it does not require that you find that CD was negligent.

Defense:

      The sudden emergency doctrine can excuse the failure to give an adequate signal. For most breaking situations an adequate signal is given by properly working break lights. A sudden stop made in a non-emergency situation must be accomplished in a manner that does not endanger following traffic given consideration to ordinary principles of negligence