Just Curious

Help Support CattleToday:

wacocowboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Messages
3,201
Reaction score
3
Location
Central Texas
Let's say you hit a deer or hog on an FM road and the reason you hit it is cause the grass in the ditches is like 5ft tall so you couldn't see the deer or hog. Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?

I was driving home last night and two bucks jumped out in front of me I didn't hit them but never saw them cause of the grass so it got me thinking.
 
FM's are taken care of by the state.

To answer your question, no. How could you make a case of when the grass is to tall? Does it have to be 2', 3' or what. They are just as likely to come out of a drainage where it wouldn't matter.
 
wacocowboy":hazyh48r said:
Let's say you hit a deer or hog on an FM road and the reason you hit it is cause the grass in the ditches is like 5ft tall so you couldn't see the deer or hog. Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?

I was driving home last night and two bucks jumped out in front of me I didn't hit them but never saw them cause of the grass so it got me thinking.

You can sue because someone farts in Church. In this case, it is possible you might win. Hard to say. I would not discount it.
 
Here you can hit a deer, even if the grass is eye level with a nat....stop and let 10 run across... Number 11 comes outa nowhere ... If you don't have full coverage..you'll pay at the big window...
 
bird dog":1pvg72iv said:
FM's are taken care of by the state.

To answer your question, no. How could you make a case of when the grass is to tall? Does it have to be 2', 3' or what. They are just as likely to come out of a drainage where it wouldn't matter.

If FMs are taken care of by the state why do they stop mowing at the county line? The road I was on part of in is in McLennan county and part is in Falls county. The McLennan part is mowed the Falls part is 5ft tall.
 
Different TxDot districts that change at county lines maybe.
They mow the sides of the FM road in front of my place once/year but the FM road this one intersects gets mowed several times each spring and summer.
 
wacocowboy":31pb0qlz said:
Let's say you hit a deer or hog on an FM road and the reason you hit it is cause the grass in the ditches is like 5ft tall
so you couldn't see the deer or hog.
Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?
Very Doubtful.
Unless the road has a minimum speed like an interstate highway.

Otherwise the county can assert that you should have been going slower. Care, custody and control of your vehicle
is your responsibility and seeing the tall grass you should have proceeded with more caution.
Just because a road has a maximum speed limit of 55 does not guarantee or imply that 35 mph is safe in all conditions.
They would dispute the grass did not cause the crash, driving faster than your ability under the conditions caused it.

just my :2cents: opinion.
 
greybeard":1zklcegn said:
Different TxDot districts that change at county lines maybe.
They mow the sides of the FM road in front of my place once/year but the FM road this one intersects gets mowed several times each spring and summer.

That is the way it is up here some places get mowed regularly some once a year.
 
Son of Butch":lacgy1ml said:
wacocowboy":lacgy1ml said:
Let's say you hit a deer or hog on an FM road and the reason you hit it is cause the grass in the ditches is like 5ft tall
so you couldn't see the deer or hog.
Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?
Very Doubtful.
Unless the road has a minimum speed like an interstate highway.

Otherwise the county can assert that you should have been going slower. Care, custody and control of your vehicle
is your responsibility and seeing the tall grass you should have proceeded with more caution.
Just because a road has a maximum speed limit of 55 does not guarantee or imply that 35 mph is safe in all conditions.
They would dispute the grass did not cause the crash, driving faster than your ability under the conditions caused it.

just my :2cents: opinion.

You probably are right. I do slow down still can't see them pop out but gives better reaction time and I figured it would hurt less going slower if I hit one.
 
wacocowboy":2t58sszm said:
Son of Butch":2t58sszm said:
wacocowboy":2t58sszm said:
Let's say you hit a deer....
Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?
Very Doubtful.
the county can assert that you should have been going slower.
Care, custody and control of your vehicle is your responsibility....
I do slow down still can't see them pop out but gives better reaction time....
It doesn't matter how slow you drive, true story and would not believe it if I hadn't seen it myself.

My brother was driving a pick up pulling 300 bushel load of corn in a gravity box off the corn field going under 9 mph
along the edge of the corn field at sunset.
I saw a deer 100 yards away bounding across the combined open field heading towards him.

Dang if that deer didn't T-bone the truck. Right smack dab in the center of the passenger door!
The deer went down, got up holding his head sideways, shook it off and went running off in a different direction.
How the heck did that deer not see or hear a moving pick up truck and gravity box and run straight into it?!?
Darn deer left a heck of a big dent right in the center of the door too.

Morale of the story:
If your truck is a deer magnet, it doesn't matter how slow you are driving, a deer will find you.
 
They do it...man killed here last year, deer jumped out of woods knocked him off his Harley .. Knocked his helmet off too...heard of them coming through the windshield,kicking the driver to a pulp
 
wacocowboy":2k19176d said:
Let's say you hit a deer or hog on an FM road and the reason you hit it is cause the grass in the ditches is like 5ft tall so you couldn't see the deer or hog. Could you successfully sue the county for not mowing?

I was driving home last night and two bucks jumped out in front of me I didn't hit them but never saw them cause of the grass so it got me thinking.

You lost this one before you started you can't even sue the owner if a cow or horse is out on a FM much less the state unless you can prove willful neglect by the owner. That gets under the sufficient fence statute.
 
A cow or horse is a different deal than a deer, their considered private property. A deer the state claims ownership of it and should be responsible for the damage that they cause. You can legally fence deer out but you can't fence them in without a license from the state.
 
True Grit Farms":37gh9gus said:
A cow or horse is a different deal than a deer, their considered private property. A deer the state claims ownership of it and should be responsible for the damage that they cause. You can legally fence deer out but you can't fence them in without a license from the state.

Lawyer won't even take your case unless it is a state or US highway

http://www.jrlawfirm.com/blog/accidents ... -in-texas/

If you can prove willful neglect under
the fence statue you have a case.
 
Evidence of open gates, broken fencing, or a disregard for keeping a closed range;
Evidence of previous livestock escapes (and the owner's subsequent remedial actions);
Poor quality fencing unfit for ordinary use.

I would think the state is guilty of all of the above myself, when it comes to deer. The state admits that the deer belong to them, and do absolutely nothing to contain them. I someone would file a civil case and it went before a jury trial how could the plaintiff lose? All that's needed is to prove that the state is 51% at fault, and the state has already claimed ownership of the deer.
 
Grit it is almost impossible to sue the government in Texas and win
Deer do not fall under livestock law but that of natural resources.
The state owns them.
 
wacocowboy":3d4g5p4e said:
bird dog":3d4g5p4e said:
FM's are taken care of by the state.

To answer your question, no. How could you make a case of when the grass is to tall? Does it have to be 2', 3' or what. They are just as likely to come out of a drainage where it wouldn't matter.

If FMs are taken care of by the state why do they stop mowing at the county line? The road I was on part of in is in McLennan county and part is in Falls county. The McLennan part is mowed the Falls part is 5ft tall.

The mowing is done by contractors. They bid on a certain section of roads in a county. Usually the contract states how many times they have to mow. On some contracts along the big highways they can't mow until the wild flowers die off. Each contract is different but most end at the county line.
 
wacocowboy":3lvlvyy3 said:
bird dog":3lvlvyy3 said:
FM's are taken care of by the state.

To answer your question, no. How could you make a case of when the grass is to tall? Does it have to be 2', 3' or what. They are just as likely to come out of a drainage where it wouldn't matter.

If FMs are taken care of by the state why do they stop mowing at the county line? The road I was on part of in is in McLennan county and part is in Falls county. The McLennan part is mowed the Falls part is 5ft tall.
Waco around her it looks like contractors do the mowing. But you're right, they do stop at the county line. Maybe a different contractor will mow the other county (someday). :lol:
 

Latest posts

Top