Advocacy & Safety - Boulder man sues dog owner

Does it really matter if it is a 'toy' breed? I was removed from my bicycle by a bunny rabbit this past summer. He forced me to employ the over the bar dismount. If it were a dog, hells yes I'd make an issue out of it, but a rabbit? Well, that's just wildlife. Dogs are not.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/boulder-96460-sues-accident.html

Discuss.

Engholt pleaded guilty to failing to property control and restrain her dog and was fined $325 in addition to being put on unsupervised probation for a year.Case over, cyclist just needs proof of actual medical cost.

To avoid these sorts of accidents, maybe we need to employ the bicycle version of a cow catcher?
:P

http://drschweitzer.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/train_cowcatcher_300_400_pixels.jpg

"A man who injured his leg"

How can the victim injure his own leg? More perfection in journalism. Remember what Shakespeare said about lawyers?

-Kurt

To avoid these sorts of accidents, maybe we need to employ the bicycle version of a cow catcher?
:P

What have they got strewn all over that ten-wheeler? Christmas lights? Bloody thing looks like Doc Brown came to visit again.

-Kurt

Remember what Shakespeare said about lawyers?

-Kurt

Prolly one of his most misunderstood quotes, BTW.

Jack Cade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cade) wanted lawyers dead because "the first thing any potential tyrant must do to eliminate freedom is to kill all the lawyers"

Prolly one of his most misunderstood quotes, BTW.

Spike Bike knows how to understand them.

http://www.jaysmarine.com/spikebike_gunbarrel.jpg

-Spiro Bikopoulis

Does it really matter if it is a 'toy' breed? I was removed from my bicycle by a bunny rabbit this past summer. He forced me to employ the over the bar dismount. If it were a dog, hells yes I'd make an issue out of it, but a rabbit? Well, that's just wildlife. Dogs are not.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/boulder-96460-sues-accident.html

Discuss.

How fast was the cyclist going? How fast was the dog running when it ran into his bike? Where on the bike did the dog hit? What did the cyclist run/fall into after being struck by the dog? Was the dog leashed on a fixed length leash or on a retractable leash?

I would think that if the dog had gotten up a good head of steam it's "10 - 12" pound range really doesn't mean much. Look at how light a bullet is and fast it travels and how much damage it inflicts. . .

The physics of an 11-pound dog vs. 200 lbs of bike and rider are irrelevant. It doesn't matter if the rider made contact with the dog. He could have fallen while making an evasive maneuver at 20mph. The owner failed to properly restrain their pet. The details will come to light in court, but this one will most likely be settled out of court.

Owner Sue mans boulder dog.

-Guhmby

$45,000 seems like a lot for a simple leg injury. Maybe a culmination of the frustration from decades of dogs running wild on the MUP?

I'm guessing dog owner went ballistic afterwards, that seems the norm.

"how dare u hit my cute little dog, cyclists should be banned."

Anyways, I'm sure there is a bit more to this story. I hope he wins... this could turn into a real money maker and clean up the MUP.

Does it really matter if it is a 'toy' breed? I was removed from my bicycle by a bunny rabbit this past summer. He forced me to employ the over the bar dismount. If it were a dog, hells yes I'd make an issue out of it, but a rabbit? Well, that's just wildlife. Dogs are not.

Knowing what we know about news reporting, and the editing process, the "owner" saying that it was a toy breed is almost certainly true, but may or may not be related in any way to the story. Funny things make it into print every day, and editors often fail to notice what their stories ( and even headlines ) are implying. When you have a very specific "just the facts" style of writing, I guess it becomes easier not to notice what's written between the lines. Here's a quote from the New York Times (http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2211):


With flowing black hair and a remarkable ability to pull off form-fitting black leather pants, Ms. Chang is a particularly glamorous ambassador of an art form not necessarily associated with lipstick and glitz.

They aren't talking about Brooklyn's poet laureate getting naked.

Anyway, I wonder what happened to the dog? Sure, it's human shouldn't have let it terrorize a cyclist ... but still, I hope it wasn't hit. The poor dog has little concept of what's going on. But I do wonder if the fact that it's a toy breed ( ie bread to be a pet, not a worker, so probably small ) means the owner is suggesting "You could have just hit the dog and not racked up $45,000 in medical expenses."

He can cite this precedent: Judge Judy rules on cyclist vs dog owners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p12x52UzJsc

I suspect the " just a toy breed" was meant to imply that the rider didn't have to do what ever evasive moves he did, since the dog was close to harmless"just a toy" or maybe saying hitting my little dog couldn't have caused him to break his leg.

A rather small dog broke both my arms when it ran into the street and caught my front wheel some years back.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3552600941_b51dc2f2db_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jputnam/3552600941/)

If anyone had gotten the name of the owner, the newspapers would have said I was suing the owner, but it really would have been my health insurance company.

That's something many of these articles overlook -- if your health insurance pays for your injuries, and they decide to sue whoever might have been responsible for causing your injuries, you MUST cooperate in the suit, or they can come after you to pay back their costs.

He can cite this precedent: Judge Judy rules on cyclist vs dog owners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p12x52UzJsc

That's the case that I thought it was. Can an arbitrator set precedent? I was it has been my understanding that in order for a judge to do one of these shows that they have to be retired from the bench. And also if I am not mistaken Judge Joe Brown besides referring to himself as a judge also refers to himself as an arbitrator. And he has administered "administrative penalties" on unruly litigants, instead of contempt of court charges/fines.

Also if I'm not mistaken, this was linked to from the article that Bicycling Magazine did a few years ago on the broken bicycle laws.

Sorry, broken traffic laws.

That's the case that I thought it was. Can an arbitrator set precedent? I was it has been my understanding that in order for a judge to do one of these shows that they have to be retired from the bench. And also if I am not mistaken Judge Joe Brown besides referring to himself as a judge also refers to himself as an arbitrator. And he has administered "administrative penalties" on unruly litigants, instead of contempt of court charges/fines.

The link to the Judge Judy episode was posted tongue-in-cheek. I don't know if an arbitrator can set precedent.

I hope Judge Judy can't set precedents... FYI, when she's on the show, she's not a real judge. All those court shows are just arbitration shows.

Judge Judy has been known to step beyond her legal bounds. She used to be a family court judge. There's one episode of Judge Judy where she not only awards a monetary settlement, but also stipulates custody over a child. The ruling was appealed and a real family court found Judge Judy had no authority.

Funny that dogs should come up again.I ride daily(for 40 years on and off), but hadn't been actually chased in maybe 10 years. A Cocker(sic) Spaniel of all things went after me just as I headed up the river levee.Normally I could probably outrun and ignore a little dog like that-but not up the levee.It stayed with me-barking/snarling-for maybe 20 seconds as I ground my way uphill. It finally gave up once I moved out of its"territory".

Not a big deal, but distracting since I was moving thru electric pole and its support wire.

Charlie

I hope Judge Judy can't set precedents... FYI, when she's on the show, she's not a real judge. All those court shows are just arbitration shows.

Judge Judy has been known to step beyond her legal bounds. She used to be a family court judge. There's one episode of Judge Judy where she not only awards a monetary settlement, but also stipulates custody over a child. The ruling was appealed and a real family court found Judge Judy had no authority.

Good, the few times that I've watched her show she has always struck me as someone who has a chip on their shoulder the size of at least Rhode Island, and being an extremely arrogant person. And even though I think just about every adult knows that in small claims court that the rules of evidence are a bit more relaxed. She does not accept either written, sworn statements calling them "hearsay" evidence or any kind of hearsay evidence. Unless of course said sworn statement comes from a LEO, like LEO's never, ever lie.

And I feel sorry for her husband, and her kids. Imagine what that household must be like??? (shudders at the thought of it)

How can the victim injure his own leg? More perfection in journalism. Remember what Shakespeare said about lawyers?

-Kurt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective