Car/Cow accident question (not wife or I) no pictures

[vontar]

I had a co worker hit a cow on the way to work.  It appears to have totaled her car.  (cow dead instantly)  

She wants me to keep her name and pictures out of this for now.

 

She believes she knows who the owner of the cow is, however they claimed to not own it while repairing the fence just yards away from the accident.

She has pictures of them repairing the fence, as well as pictures at the scene.  She has reported it to the insurance but they are waiting on the police report.

 

She did have full coverage on the car, but is tore up that she has just been buying a brand new car (few years) she only had 10 payments left.

22,000 car with no issues she has checked the blue book to be about 7k now (ford focus).

 

 

I don't guess there is any way to prove ownership of a Angus cow.

 

She is wondering if she might be able to make them pay the deducible or help cover some of her lose.  any thoughts.  I am thinking it is slim to none.

 

 

 

[xjsnake]

Cow wasn't branded or ear tagged?

[vontar]

Cow wasn't branded or ear tagged?

I just ask.  As far as I know the state hauled it off as no one claimed it on site.

[vontar]

Don't believe it was tagged or branded.  (going for TV, Flash and Supernatural).

[peejman]

Right, most cattle should be tagged or otherwise identified. Neighbors might be able to identify it.

[gregintenn]

She owes the owner of the cow a cow, and the owner of the cow owes her a car if the law hasn't changed recently. Assuming the cow owner isn't an honest person, he's way ahead only losing a cow. It may be tough to prove ownership of the cow.

 

Since she has insurance, they should pay her for the car and pursue their money from the cow owner. Lawyers are one good side effect of buying auto insurance.

Edited October 29, 2014 by gregintenn

[.357SIG]

Ear tags and brands don't mean anything. If cows are sold at a sale, unless the new owner retags or rebrands then the cow will have a pointless brand or tag.

My family has about 65 head and we document them with the ear tags they come with, but we don't retag cows we buy.

[DaveS]

Unless she can prove ownership, sorry to say, but it's all on her!

 

Dave

[Garufa]

How does one hit a cow? They're fairly good sized critters.

[Oh Shoot]

Unless she can prove ownership, sorry to say, but it's all on her!

 

Dave

 

As has been said, it's on her insurance company to make restitution to her.  Company will take it from there if they think they have recourse to recoup any of it.

 

The only way it's "on her" is if she's not covered for what she considers full recompense and wants to sue the landowner directly.

 

- OS

Edited October 29, 2014 by Oh Shoot

[vontar]

It was 5 a.m. ish. so it was dark.  The cow was lucky for her walking/running in the same direction she was traveling.  She hit it in the ass instead of of the side.  

[vontar]

She owes the owner of the cow a cow, and the owner of the cow owes her a car if the law hasn't changed recently.

 If it could be proved who owned the cow, I can't see how the car driver could owe them the price of the cow since the cow was in the road.  However I can see the cow owner owing damages. However does not appear likely.  I believe she needs to let her insurance fight it out.

[Sam1]

Wish her the best, but unless that thing was all busted up I would've kept the cow and took it to the butcher myself.

[runco]

I am no attorney, but in a civil case the need to prove preponderance of evidence would weigh heavy with a dead cow, nearby field, nearby fence repair, and etc.  No need to prove without doubt, just preponderance only.  I think this would be a slam dunk settle out of court type of deal based upon what I read.  Recommend an attorney, and seek damages from any/all pastures in the immediate area, i.e. 1 mile radius.  Someone will settle

 

BTW, what can she recoup above and beyond the value of the car of which she will be compensated by the insurance?  Was she hurt?  Did she lose any work? 

 

Pssst, since TN has the road kill law, I would have taken the cow to the butcher, can anyone say NY Strip baby! :yum:

[Ted S.]

Wish her the best, but unless that thing was all busted up I would've kept the cow and took it to the butcher myself.

 

Pssst, since TN has the road kill law, I would have taken the cow to the butcher, can anyone say NY Strip baby! :yum:

 

Pre-tenderized too.

[K191145]

How does one hit a cow? They're fairly good sized critters.

 

I would say just as easy as hitting a deer especially if it's a little dark, they just trot out from behind some folage right into your path. My insurance repaired my truck after I hit a deer and I only had liability and comprehensive coverage since it was a 1996 model. Comprehensive covered it since they determined it was not my fault, just ran right out of the woods right into my truck.

[Duck]

Her insurance company should handle it entirely for her. The have lawyers on retainer just for dealing with these types of issues.

[leroy]

I seem ta remember there is a "no open range law" in Tennessee... If the cow is out, the owner is responsible; but I ain't sure about this one.....

leroy


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[vontar]

I have passed on the wisdom of crowd sourcing here.  She is going to let the insurance handle it.  She is just upset over not being able to really do anything at the moment but wait on them.  I fully understand that.

[Patton]

Truthfully, the insurance company will persue the owner of the cow but it is unlikely that they will put much effort into it. The cost isn't worth the gain for a no injury collision. She will just be out her deductible which is just part of life.

[monkeylizard]

Yep. IF (and that's a big IF) the insurance company is able to get their money back from any identified cow owner, they get to keep the first stuff in the door. If they collect ALL of it back, she'll get her deductible refunded. Sometimes that happens years later with the insuree completely unaware that the insurance company has been collecting a few dollars at a time from the at-fault party.

[Luke E.]

 I was in the exact same situation one time. A friend and I (we were 16-17yrs old) had run into town for him to pick up some shoes one night and were on our way back in the rain when we topped a hill and there standing broadside was an old worn out looking cow and it was much to late for my buddy to hit the brakes much less stop or miss the cow. It totaled his truck and pretty well totaled the cow but didn't kill it,,, immediately anyways. She got back up on her feet but the poor thing had a lot of internal damage which cause a spot to swell out behind her ribs that looked like half of one of those exercise ball things stuck to her side. Like I said this deal was exactly like your friends because the owner of the cow denied ownership. There was only one field in the immediate area that had any cattle on it and the guy that owns the field showed up and ran the other two adventurous cows back into his field yet he had no idea who owned the one that we hit. I'm not sure if my buddy's insurance company ever got anything out of the guy or not but my buddy did get paid by the insurance company. Good luck to her.

[midtennchip]

This is probably not something that could be proven for several reasons:

 

1.  identifying owner (mostly mentioned above, and preponderance of the evidence would be all that is required, but it would still be disputed);

 

2.  although livestock must be fenced, it isn't an absolute that the owner is responsible just because the cow is out;  she would have to prove that the owner was negligent in the manner in which the fence was constructed (or the temporary measures were inadequate while repairs were being made);

 

3.  she would have to show that she was less at fault than the cow's owner (which might be harder than the others);

 

4.  Damages might not be that high.  She would only be entitled to the fair market value of the car (which would be similar to, but not necessarily the same as, the amount her insurance company would pay her).

 

Property damage only cases are rarely worth the time and effort to file a lawsuit.  Nevertheless, with all of these things in doubt, I think it would be a little bit difficult to prove.

[10-Ring]

Cows are dangerous killers. Anyone wanting to own one of those horrible things should have to pass a background check and register it. We have to do this for the children.

[Grand Torino]

Cows are dangerous killers. Anyone wanting to own one of those horrible things should have to pass a background check and register it. We have to do this for the children.

:rofl: