cow vs truck

Last week I hit a cow going the speed 65 mph at 8:30 pm with oncoming traffic which is why I couldnt see her. It really broke my heart when she looked at me before the we connected. My ? is does anybody know the laws in texas about cattle on a us highway. The guy said he has no insurance on the cattle, so the insurance company said its like I hit a uninsured motorist. The truck is a lease vehicle so I will probably be penalized in the end it did $10,500 worth of damage. Then there is my out of pocket deductible, and a claim on my insurance which was clean. I have no injuries and Im not the type to sue anybody, but why should I get the shaft when a makeshift gate ( cattle panel that was not wired shut) was open and there was a total of 4 cows at that night. The guy who owns the cows is a succesul rancher and builds metal buildings so its not like he couldnt afford ins. If it was one of my cows I would probably be taken to the cleaners.

Your insurance still should cover your damage, regardless, and maybe if you talked one on one with the animal owner he may help with the cost.

GMN

He won't return my calls

That is why people sue... ;-)

Have your attorney call him. ;-)

It doesn't matter if he had cow insurance or not he most likely has liability insurance of some kind. He also has a responsibility to keep his cows off the hiway. Sounds like he is gaslighting you gasman.

At the very least you should have the option of filing a civil suit. As far as the insurance is concerned they wil not do squat about making him pay on a claim this small. If there was a death and a huge claim they would, but they are more likely to just fix the car and make you pay the deductible. At the very least he should have offered to pay your deductible. It also will probably not affect your insurance rates at all. If your record is that clean.

Gasman...found this on a website:

Kirk Crutcher is an attorney in Amarillo, Texas, who handles livestock law cases. He says if a Texas livestock owner "exercises due care in fencing his cattle in,"he can not be held liable if the horse gets out. "A reasonably prudent owner is typically not liable."

Basically the livestock owner must be found negligent in order to be held liable. If the fence is in poor repair, the livestock has a history of getting out, or if the owner has been provided notice of a defect in the fence, he might be considered negligent. 'Was the act foreseeable and could you have prevented it?' is an important question in determining liability," says Crutcher, who is a partner at the law firm of Sprouse, Smith and Rowley, PC.

If the livestock owner is not liable, is the driver No. Although the livestock owner may not be liable, the liability is not transferred to the individual who hits the animal on the highway. Texas Livestock Laws state that a person whose vehicle strikes, kills, injures or damages an unattended animal running at large is not liable unless there is gross negligence in the operation of the vehicle, or there is a willful intent to strike, kill, injure, or damage the animal.

Basically, it's a no-fault situation.

Although the law in most states is on the side of the livestock owner, it's a good idea to check into any existing insurance policies that you have in the event your liability is questioned. Farm liability policies may cover this type of claim.

Some policies pay for damage done to the livestock if the animals do not belong to the land or stable owner. This can protect the land owner if your pasture is leased out.

Preventing the problem all together is ideal. The best way to protect yourself from the situation is to inspect your fences, gates and locks regularly."Make sure your livestock can't unlatch the gate," Crutcher suggests."As any livestock owner will tell you, cattle always seem to find a way of getting out."

The AAHS Web site http: // http://www.law.utexas.edu/dawson/fe nce/fnc _ menu. htm has links to the livestock laws in all 50 states.

I dont know how to make this new photo system work

Holy smokes........
If I totaled a cow with my truck, I'd be out about $500 :roll: , but looks like you are going to take a bite.

So glad you are Ok!

Normally I wouldnt lease, but I went and bought a brand new f-350 to do clean up work in new orleans and the people I was contracted under lost the contract after three mos of work. So I had one fairly new truck I was making payments on (my daily driver) and now had this new f-350. I could not sell niether and would have been $15000 upside down on a trade. So they talked me into a 36 mos lease that I could walk away from in the end. Probably wont happen now. I rarely drove the f-150 till diesel got to $4.00 gal so I had to park my 96 f350.

If I would have been in the real truck the 96 f-350 it probably woulnt been have the damage. Maybe dented the bumper.

You're lucky it was that big of a truck. When we were kids we hit a cow in the dark in a 57 Chevy doing some pretty good speed. Sure glad I was in the back seat. It was pretty ugly

gasman":3l0hdvom said:

If I would have been in the real truck the 96 f-350 it probably woulnt been have the damage. Maybe dented the bumper.

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3waycross":3uod2l77 said:

You're lucky it was that big of a truck. When we were kids we hit a cow in the dark in a

• >>>57 Chevy <<

doing some pretty good speed. Sure glad I was in the back seat. It was pretty ugly

gasman":3uod2l77 said:

If I would have been in the real truck the 96 f-350 it probably woulnt been have the damage. Maybe dented the bumper.

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2dr hardtop?

I'm not understanding, possibly I missed something. Are you saying that your insurance company refuses to repair your vehicle, or that they will repair but you owe the deductable. Personally, I would pay the deductable fair or not and get on with life. Anytime you hire an attorney your going to fork out more than your deductable. Remember that attorneys practice law. That does not mean they know the law. Just my thoughts. Tom :cboy:

What i'm saying is if someone would have took the time to put a real gate up or put some wire around the panel that was there i wouldnt be stuck with a brand new wrecked truck that will always be wrecked even after it is fixed. And ford motor credit will probably stick it to me in the end when its time to turn the truck back in. I would have been better off if it would have totaled the truck.

2dr hardtop? [/quote]


Of course :cry2:

a couple years ago, we had our draft horse at the neighbor's tack show. He was harnessed to a buggy. Well he spooked and ran between the building and a customer's truck. Our homeowner's insurance covered the cost of repairing this guy's vehicle. We originally had questioned how it was going to be handled. If it would be our insurance, the business owner's insurance or non-fault of the truck owner. Anyway our insurance paid and all was fine. I am betting the owner of the cow's insurance would pay if you pursued it.

3waycross":2mby5avn said:

2dr hardtop?

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Of course :cry2: [/quote]
:cry2: :drink:

My uncles had someone cut one of their chains on their gate to a pasture one time and like 20 hd got out on the highway..... a young kid hit like 6 or 7 of them before he finally came to a stop. They were held liable even though someone else cut the chain that held the gate closed. There are definitely avenues you can use. Texas is not a free range state. An owner must show diligence in fencing IN his cattle where as in some states the owner must fence his cattle OUT of others property and if they happen to get out onto a highway and someone hits them, the livestock owner is not responsible.

man that cow did tear your truck up.as i see it you have 2 things you can do.colloect on your ins under comprehensive..2 make the owner of the cow pay for damages.3 you could sue him an get a judgement.but he dont have to pay the judgement if he doesnt want to.