I Hit A Dog With My Car - Advice On Court Action

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Sorry had to add, might be irrelevant as was argued about back on page 2 but my instructor always told me to pick up speed on these sorts of roads to keep up with flow...this meant doing at least 50mph on 60mph roads. And being in the country/coast nearly all of the main roads are this speed limit, it's only once you reach the individual villages it drops back to what most are used to.

So no, effectively whether a child or dog ran out unexpectedly and was hit it's unlikely they'd survive. That's why it is SOOOOOO important to teach your children about road safety and to keep your dogs on leads anywhere near such roads, in fact near ANY normal speed roads! For the info the OP gave, nothing implies he was doing anything wrong - it is sad and unfortunate event by all means, but ultimately if the OP's post is completely factful then the dog owner is at fault.

We have 60mph zones for a reason, as it is 70 on the motorway, these are high speed travelling areas and not places children, dogs or in fact anyone should be crossing (or at least without great care if it is absolutely neccessary).

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Just read this last page, and yep my post was irrelevant....sorry Glad it's getting sorted now though OP - Owner sounds like a decent guy after all!

EDIT: I said the owner sounds decent, that was becuase i thought from your earlier post up this page you said you were now on good terms.....but now i'm all confuzzled...did you get any money off him in the end? See this is why you should never dip in and out of a thread, lol!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I wonder if a secondary claim could be lodged against the rabbit the dog was presumably chasing at the time?

Sorry, OP, hope it's all been sorted out for you.

propaintballa

Hi guys. After a few months and about £700 of my own money, everything is sorted.

Well, i use the term "Sorted" lightly..

The body shop guys (as nice as they were) didn't do a great job in the end, i've heard nothing back from the dog owner so most of the fees went on a credit card.

I was hoping for a spot of luck after that frankly horrific month, but no such luck so far. Either way, the car is all sorted which made me slightly happier. I'm not holding my breath for anything to happen regarding payment. What goes around comes around ay. Thanks again

explosivo153

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, it's unfortunate that it happened and even worse that you got such abuse here for doing absolutely nothing wrong. You can't be expected to drive at ridiculously low speeds at all times which im my experience this is more likely to cause an accident.

Glad the car is sorted anyway. Just wondering did you take the £100 from the guy?

propaintballa

explosivo153 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, it's unfortunate that it happened and even worse that you got such abuse here for doing absolutely nothing wrong. You can't be expected to drive at ridiculously low speeds at all times which im my experience this is more likely to cause an accident.

Glad the car is sorted anyway. Just wondering did you take the £100 from the guy?

Yeh, not sure of the mentality of some people on here... Maybe the old school Kick them when they're down makes them feel good.

Nope, that money never materialised. I'm thinking about calling him some time and see what he says

maninthestreet

tandraig wrote: »

I know what was bothering me about those photos! the car was remarkably clean! no blood or tissue - which i would not expect. how long after the accident were they taken?

There's some gungey-looking stuff on the bumper.

jaydeeuk1

cit_k wrote: »

Accidents can happen, that is true.

In this instance the best bet now is to learn from it, and take an advanced driving course to improve your situational awareness, appreciation of unexpected hazards, and safe control of a vehicle under more circumstances that would ever be taught or expected from a normal driving licence test.

Whilst it will never rule out the possiblity of a future accident, it will greatly reduce the chances of something like this occuring again.

Not entirely sure how an advanced driver course will prevent a dog jumping out in front of you. I could have the reactions of Matt Damon in one of the Bourne films, but the dog would still be a write off.

Haven't bothered reading the whole thread, but can imagine the completely unwarranted abuse the OP got. Perhaps the owner should get advanced dog handling training instead?

jaydeeuk1

maninthestreet wrote: »

There's some gungey-looking stuff on the bumper.

No, the car really is rust colour

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Sorry to hear that OP, but sometimes, even though it's a nightmare, even if it's not your fault, you end up taking a knock in life. At least you and your friends are OK and it was a dog rather than a larger, possibly endangered animal or a human that was hurt. The owner has lost an animal as well.

Just something to chalk up to experience, I'm afraid.