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New York City - It’s probably a daily occurrence, one driver cuts off another, causing the second motorist to slam on the brakes and get rear-ended by a third vehicle.

Until Friday, the first driver - the reckless one who seemingly causes such accidents - couldn’t be held liable if he or she was not involved in the actual collision.

But the state’s top court, in a ruling against Suffolk County and a county cop, has done away with such absolution.

The Court of Appeals found that Officer Lee Weidl was 50% liable in a March 2003 wreck that injured another driver.

The cop was responding to a broken-down vehicle on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway’s westbound service road during the morning rush hour when he changed lanes and suddenly slowed to a crawl, according to court records.

The driver behind him, Pamela Tutrani, now 61, of Wading River slammed on her brakes and stopped before hitting Weidl’s vehicle. But she was rear-ended by the driver behind her, Darlene Maldonado. Tutrani reinjured her spine in the wreck, and later needed shoulder surgery, said her attorney, Ken Shapiro. She hasn’t worked since.

Because Weidl was not involved in the collision, the county argued in Tutrani’s civil suit that he was not the cause of Maldonado’s failure to stop.

But a Suffolk jury said Weidl’s reckless conduct and Maldonado’s negligence were equal factors, holding each 50% at fault and awarding Tutrani $200,000.

The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, citing precedents, reversed the judgment against Weidl, noting that Tutrani was able to stop without hitting Weidl’s police car.

The Court of Appeals held that it is “irrelevant” whether Tutrani managed to avoid hitting the officer’s car.

“Clearly, Officer Weidl’s actions created a foreseeable danger that vehicles would have to brake aggressively ... thereby increasing the risk of rear-end collisions,” the seven judges unanimously concluded.

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