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johncanfield wrote:

Keith B wrote:..he owner has a duty to fence and keep the animal in. If there is negligence on the rancher's part in that they failed to properly fence or neglected to maintain the fence and the cow got out, then they are liable. However, if no negligence can be shown on the farmer's part, then your insurance will have to cover the accident.

We own a small ranch and raise exotics (blackbuck antelope.) When we bought the place five or six years ago I was amazed at how high our homeowner's insurance was. Our house is pretty small so I questioned the Farm Bureau agent about the price - he said "animals." There is an assumption if you have acreage, you will have animals. If you have animals, you could have liability issues.

I imagine that that is the reason that the cow I hit has never been found. No body wants to be liable for the medical bills that have resulted from the accident. Got more of them today as I had to go to an ENT and have several more glass slivers "vacuumed" out of my left ear canal. I have insurance but I also have high co-pays and deductibles. WHen you add up the helicopter, ambulance, FD, ER+Dr, my GP, Optometrist, and now 2 visits to the ENT it's getting pretty steep.
The Fannin County Sheriff's office is still working on it and I must say they have been superb. They say they may have a lead on the cow's owners. But proving it was theirs is a different story. The suspected owners have rooms full of lawyers in their primary business.
As I mentioned before, the deputies handled my carry weapon situation very well.

Scott in Houston wrote:

2farnorth wrote:AArrrgh. Got to go back to the Dr today. Getting small slivers of glass out of my left ear last night and a small bit of blood. Left eye is swollen nearly shut and blacker than coal. Left rear part of my head and neck hurt when I try to sleep. Gonna call work today and see if they will convert these last 3 days into vacation time (fat chance since then they would have to pay me for it and my official retirement date is tomorrow )

They have to pay out your earned vacation either way. You may want to check on how your company handles vacation and 'sick days' as well as short term disability.
It's possible that you may be able to use disability for your time off, or maybe sick days, and not vacation. That way, when you get your last pay check, you'll get cash for the unused vacation days. Don't use them if you don't have to! They're worth money, so try your other options first.

Appreciate the advice... I wish it worked that way in this company. No sick days, vacation is "not earned" it is "given" to us according to the company. They have informed us that it can not be cashed in under those conditions. It is forfeited upon termination. Disability only kicks in after 2 weeks. Since I have all ready given notice it's not available.
Just talked to my terminal manager and I need to stop by and sign a vacation request. He will send it in as vacation. At least I won't lose those days when I terminate my employment as I would have otherwise. May help pay for some of the resulting expenses that I am incurring.

AArrrgh. Got to go back to the Dr today. Getting small slivers of glass out of my left ear last night and a small bit of blood. Left eye is swollen nearly shut and blacker than coal. Left rear part of my head and neck hurt when I try to sleep. Gonna call work today and see if they will convert these last 3 days into vacation time (fat chance since then they would have to pay me for it and my official retirement date is tomorrow )

Ed4032 wrote:Some one really should put up a No Cow Zone sign. That way this will never happen again.

Just got off the phone with the officer. He said they never found the cow. Tracked it up the side of the rode to where the tracks just disappeared. They did call the land owner adjacent to the accident and he was supposed to go out and do a head count on his cattle this morning. BUT nothing was ever heard. The officer is going to call him tonight. Did find out from another source that a motorcycle rider hit a cow in the same area last year.
I had hoped that he had gotten the info on the two angels that stopped and helped me but he said they left before he got it. I was quite dis-oriented when they got there. Just wanted to say thank you to them. Never got a chance to last night. Maybe I'll put a small add in the local newspaper.

gotta go take a nap now. These 2 hour naps are getting tiring but I guess it's better than a permanent nap though
Thanks again for all the well wishes and information. Y'all are great.

ajwakeboarder wrote:Glad your ok man. Just out of curiosity, what kind of car do you drive?

It was an 1986 Pontiac Fiero.......no it hasn't burned ....yet Got it home now here's some pics

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Post by JJVP » Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:02 pm
Found on the TexasCowForum:

Guys you would not guess what happened to me last night. I was coming back from visiting some friends when all of a sudden I see two bright lights coming straight at me. Before I knew what happened, I was flying up in the air and landed on this little car. I was hurt and missing a piece of skin. Went to see if the guy would help me get back to the barn, but when I checked he was sleeping on the side of the road. How inconsiderate of him. After beating me up, the least he could do was give me ride back to the barn. But no, he just pretended to be sleeping, so I had to walk all the way to the barn by myself. I later saw him flying off in a helicopter. He must be a rich important man.

Man I’m going to be sore for days. Those maniacs think they own the roads.

Be careful out there.

Elsie

Oh my goodness thank you. But it hurts to laugh that hard.

edit to add pics

texasag93 wrote:Check and see if the farmer has fence down or see if the cow has a history of getting out. That could show liability.

Life Flight is going to be enough to give you a heart attack.

I am glad you are ok.

Yeah I know. I got an estimate of $8-10k. I didn't know about the Care Flight til I was taken out of the ambulance and being wheeled up to the chopper. I questioned it and they said they had to for "severe" head trauma.

Keith B

Thanks for the law quote. That is about what I thought it would be. I'm not a law suit type of person but I would like to recover some of my losses. I am missing a some work also. Doc has me restricted for 3 days due to the concussion ...but I am retiring from my present job on this coming Friday. Looks like I'm retiring a little earlier.

Thanks for the kind responses and well wishes

Crossfire wrote:Glad you are OK! What do you mean - find out if they ever found the cow? Really, how far could it have gotten?

It was dark and the black cow was "ambulatory" when last seen. It was slowly walking north on the other side of the road. I would assume that since the front of my car impacted very low on the legs that they should have been broken, but it was seen walking. The fireman and officers hadn't found it yet when my wife left to head for the hospital. They had found a large patch of skin plus there was chunks of skin and hair all over my car (inside and out). My left pop-up head light assembly was never found though a small piece was imbedded in the windshield. They think the cow was thrown up onto the roof and windshield by the wedge shaped nose of the car.

Post by RoyGBiv » Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:51 pm
Glad you're ok.. Very glad.

What time should we be over for dinner??
You did get to keep the cow, right?

I'll let you know if I ever get it LOL

Keith B
I'm getting conflicting stories about their liabilities. One person experienced with the process here said you have to prove recurring negligence. That will probably depend on what the Sheriff's department has about past problems with the cow's owner. (If they ever found it). Won't know til the officer comes back to work this evening. My insurance is going to follow up also.

This morning going to work at 2:30AM I hit a large black cow on hwy 78 a little south of Leonard. It caused significant damage to my car and made me look and feel pretty bad. Two young ladies (angels I think) found me semi-conscious beside my car on the side of the road. (had head injuries) Anyway after the Fannin sheriff deputy arrived I remembered that my carry gun was under the seat of my crushed roof car and informed him. He instructed a fire dept man to get it and turn it over to my wife who was on the way. My wife told me that he checked with her twice to insure that the gun was secure. Then I left on a Care Flight ride to the Plano Medical Center. I'm ok though nothing serious was found. Just sore and got a big headache from the concussion and numerous cuts and abrasions to my head and face. (The cow landed on the windshield and roof of my small sports car) I'll call the officer tonight to thank him for taking care of things. (Also want to find out if they ever found the cow!!!)