Man Inured In Truck vs. Animal Accident
A Nixa man sustained injuries after his truck struck a cow that wandered onto the road. The Missouri Highway Patrol said the man was driving on Missouri 13 when the truck accident occurred. After the truck hit the cow, it ran off the road and struck a tree.
In the event that an animal is struck by a motor vehicle or an animal collides with a motor vehicle, the surrounding circumstances must be evaluated to determine whether or not the motorist is liable. According to the American Jurisprudence, which is an encyclopedia of United States law, §104 Animals on Highways or Streets, liability is regularly assessed by the following standards.
Typically, a motorist is not an insurer of the safety of animals on the highway. However, a motorist is generally required to exercise reasonable care to avoid injuring or killing livestock or other animals on the highway. A motorist's failure to do so makes him/her liable to the owner of an animal injured or killed.
Courts across the U.S. vary in their interpretation of fault and liability when dealing with animals on the road. In some jurisdictions, authority requires that a motorist exercise the highest degree of care toward animals on the highway. Other courts have found the motorist owes no duty, or only a duty to refrain from gross negligence, as to animals at large. The most common rule is that even a law against permitting animals to run at large, does not relieve the motorist of responsibility for negligent injury to the animals.
Finding that a motorist was negligent in a collision with an animal requires that the motorist was driving at excessive speed, failed to keep a proper lookout on the road, or failed to reduce their speed or keep a safe distance while passing an animal. However, where the driver of an automobile, in attempting to pass an animal, slows down and takes due precaution but still injures an animal, the courts generally find the driver was not negligent. Also, a Missouri auto collision between a car driven with reasonable care and an animal suddenly running onto the highway from a point where it could not have easily been seen by a driver using normal caution, is frequently regarded by the courts as an unavoidable accident. In such instance, a motorist will not be liable, unless the collision occurred while he/she was driving at excessive or unreasonable speed.
It is obvious that situations involving animals on the road vary. Therefore, Missouri vehicle collisions between motor vehicles and animals often yield different results when determining legal responsibility, as well as what may be owed and to whom.
As an experienced Missouri truck accident lawyer, I am happy to discuss your case with you and answer any questions you may have. If requested, I will immediately alert our accident investigation team and begin taking the same action as the truck company and their insurance company.
The call and consultation are free. I can be reached 24 hours a day at 314.322.8515 or toll free at 1.800.500.INJURY (4658). Call me personally and I will answer all the questions and concerns you may have. There is no fee unless we recover for you.
If you don't want to call or you can't call, you can email me at john@pagecagle.com. I look forward to speaking with you and helping you through these trying times. You can also visit my website, www.TruckAccidentLawGroup.com for more information.
