I Hit A Cow While Driving, Can I Sue The Owner Of The Cow?

As a driver in California, you are sure to have encountered many road hazards from the massive amount of traffic in cities like San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Varying weather conditions, from fog and rain near the coast to snow in the mountains, also cause issues. But what often comes as a total shock to California drivers is having to call for help after hitting a cow while driving. But when you are navigating the country roads in one of the areas with many dairy and cattle farms, such as Tulare, Merced, Kings, Kern, or Fresno, this is a more common issue than you might ever have expected. So, you are left with many questions that include ones that should be directed toward legal professionals who are experienced in handling cases of vehicle versus cow incidents.

At Kenmore Law Group, our team of car accident with a cow attorneys is ready to assist you in understanding the legal rights of a driver involved in such an incident and their ability to take legal action. While you will not be able to file a lawsuit against this up to 1,500-pound animal, you certainly could have the right to pursue legal action against the owner of the cow or the rancher who is responsible for the cattle. But the first step in this process is simply making a call to the dedicated office staff at Kenmore Law Group to discuss the incident and gain some basic understanding of the legal system and how it can protect you. Our team can be reached around the clock, and you will never encounter an answering service or recording, regardless of when you reach out to the office.

During that initial call, our staff will provide all the general information you need about our firm, the services we offer, and how our car accident with a cow lawyers can assist you. Soon, you will feel far less stress and concern about achieving a positive, swift outcome from this unfortunate incident. In addition, the team will help you book your free consultation with a skilled and experienced car accident with a cow lawyer to fully evaluate your case and provide you with your options. Once you have related all the facts to your Kenmore Law Group legal professionals, they will give a complete review of the legal merit of the case, your ability to file a lawsuit, and how the process can move forward.

But it is also vital that you understand that, even after receiving all this legal guidance for free, you have the right and opportunity to make all the choices you feel will best meet your immediate and long-term needs. That included filing a lawsuit or not. In addition, you will never be required to hire Kenmore Law Group to represent you in this matter. Our only motivation in this matter is to ensure that you have the resources and information needed to resolve the hardships and issues created when you were involved in a car accident with a cow while driving in California. All we ask is that you get in touch with our staff at your earliest opportunity to ensure you have all the time you need to make the choices that could significantly impact your future before the time runs out to pursue legal action.

Understanding The Legal Obligations Of A Cow Owner In California
When you think about having livestock like cows, goats, sheep, or other large animals, you never consider the safety issues that could be related to an animal escaping the fenced area you provide for them. But that should always be a very real concern for livestock owners in California. As a state, California is not a free-range space. What that means is that livestock owners are legally obligated to provide containment for these animals to ensure they do not roam at large or wander into the path of vehicles on public roadways.

Not only are cow owners responsible for providing containment, but they are also required to inspect the containment system, maintain it, and retrieve any animals that escape from containment. So, when you are involved in an incident because you hit a cow while driving, there is the potential that the cow owner was negligent and failed to provide the proper containment and care for the animal, and the fencing system meant to keep it from roaming on the roads.

When you reach out to Kenmore Law Group, our professionals will research information on other issues or incidents involving cattle or other livestock under the care of the same facility or owner as the cow you hit. There could also be an investigation into the condition of the property and fencing in place to protect drivers from roaming cattle on roadways. Finally, we will help you move forward if you have grounds for a car accident with a cow lawsuit to seek compensation for losses and expenses arising from any incident caused by the cow owner’s negligence.

What Is Comparative Negligence, And Why You Need A Car Accident With A Cow Lawyer From Kenmore Law Group
While you might have no knowledge of this fact, California is a comparative negligence state. That might be irrelevant to many people. But as soon as you are involved in an injury incident or vehicle accident, you will need to understand this concept. What it means is that when an incident is evaluated by the legal system, there can be multiple parties who are held accountable for the cause of the incident. In short, there can be several people who share in the blame for a car accident or injury incident. The court will evaluate the facts and assign a percentage of liability or responsibility to all the parties found to have had an impact in creating the incident.

For example, in the case of your incident where you hit a cow while driving, the court could decide that the cow owner was 75% liable for the incident because they failed to repair a fence or maintain the cows in some other manner. But they could review the details of the incident and determine that you were speeding at the time you hit the cow. Because you were also acting negligently by failing to follow the speed limit, you were unable to stop as quickly, and therefore, you share 25% of the blame for the incident.

What this comparative negligence means for a car accident victim is that they share a portion of the liability for the incident, and that includes the financial issues it created. If you were seeking $10,000 for damage to your vehicle and other expenses created by the car and cow accident, you would only receive 75% of that amount, or $7,500, from the owner of the cow. You would need to pay the other $2,500 as it was determined to be your share of the obligation and expenses for the incident. Drivers need to understand that when these cases occur, it is very common for the livestock owner to try to avoid paying as much as possible by bringing up comparative negligence and trying to find any reason possible to blame you for part or all of the liability for the incident. At Kenmore Law Group, we will work diligently to protect you, your rights, and your ability to secure the fullest compensation possible for the losses and harm you suffered when hitting a cow while driving in California.

What Is The Average Value Of A Car Accident With A Cow Lawsuit?
As the victim of a car accident or personal injury incident involving a cow that was roaming loose on the roadway, there are several critical pieces of information you need to understand regarding the compensation you might receive. First, you must know that the court never awards any predetermined compensation amounts. In addition, each case is carefully and independently evaluated. During this process, the actual losses and expenses of the victim are tabulated to establish the potential compensation they could be awarded by the court. So while there is undoubtedly a mathematical average of recent cow versus car incident lawsuit compensation amounts, the number will have no impact on your case value.

Working with your Kenmore law Group legal team, you will gather all the documentation to confirm your allowable expenses that will be used to determine the value of the compensation sought by your car accident with a cow lawsuit. The items that are most often included in this process include, but are not strictly limited to:

• The cost to repair or replace any personal property that was damaged or destroyed in the incident involving the cow
• All current and projected medical expenses related to any injuries sustained in the car accident with the cow, which include diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of the injuries, as well as any therapy or counseling to address the trauma of the incident or the injuries
• All legal fees and expenses related to preparing, filing, and litigating your car accident with a cow injury lawsuit
• Your lost income if the resulting injuries from the incident prevent you from working at your regular job until you are fully healed and cleared by your medical care provider to return to the duties of that employment

How Much Time Do I Have To Take Legal Action Against The Cow Owner?
The time limit for filing a lawsuit is called the Statute of Limitations, and it varies depending on the legal matter. In the case of a personal injury incident, the typical time limit to take legal action is two years from the date of the injury incident. If the car accident only resulted in property damage, then you have three years from the accident date to file your lawsuit with the court. However, there is an exception that can drastically change this time limit.

In cases where the driver of the car that hit a cow was a minor, the time limit for them to pursue legal action does not begin until they reach the age of majority at 18. When they turn 18, they have two or three years respectively to file a lawsuit related to the cow versus car incident. In each case, the one factor that remains the same is that when the original Statute of Limitations expires, the victim loses the right to file any legal action related to the matter in the future. It is also worth noting that there are very limited exceptions that would provide additional time to take legal action once the time limit has passed. Please reach out to Kenmore Law Group today to discuss your car accident with a cow incident and determine the time remaining for you to take legal action.

No Upfront Legal Fees Or Added Stress
When you hire Kenmore Law Group to handle your car accident with a cow lawsuit, our firm will never require any upfront payments for our services or to cover expenses. Instead, we focus on winning your case, and only after the successful completion are you asked to remit payment. In addition, if your Kenmore Law Group car accident with a cow lawyer fails to win your case and secure the compensation you need and deserve, you owe the firm nothing for its time. Please reach out today to learn more about this very crucial option to resolve the expenses and losses caused when a cow owner was negligent, causing your car accident with a cow.