If you got hurt in a Dallas car accident that involved an animal—be it natural wildlife, stray animals, or pets off-leash—our Dallas animal crossing the street accident lawyer can help you pursue compensation for your losses. If an animal collision took the life of a loved one, we might be able to seek additional money damages for the legal beneficiaries.
At Loncar Lyon Jenkins, our mission is to help people who get hurt because of the carelessness of others. If we take your case, you will not have to pay upfront attorney fees to get our help.
How Stray Animals and Pets Off-Leash Can Cause Accidents
People often think of animal-vehicle collisions as events that happen when a large animal like a deer jumps into the oncoming car’s path. However, accidents can happen without the vehicle and animal colliding.
When a car suddenly swerves to avoid striking an animal, the driver might lose control of the vehicle, or other cars might crash into it.
Also, if you hit the brakes without warning, you might get into a rear-end collision. Particularly with cats, dogs, and other smaller animals, the vehicle behind you might not be able to see the animal you are trying to save.
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Learn Who Can Be Held Liable for Animal Crossing the Street Accidents
Sometimes a wildlife-vehicle collision leaves the injured person without someone to pay for the losses. However, if someone else’s negligence caused the accident to occur, you might have a valid injury claim against that person.
Here are a few examples of parties who could be held liable for an animal and vehicle collision:
- The owner, if their pet escapes their yard or house or the owner allows the animal to roam freely without a leash
- The city or county government, if there was an ongoing, known problem and the government did not take reasonable measures to prevent accidents, like installing fencing on the side of the road and erecting warning signs
- Another driver, if that person acted irresponsibly or was negligent and caused the accident
There might be other liable entities, depending on the facts of your situation.
How Our Lawyers Help After an Animal Crossing the Street Accident
You can approach a legal case without a lawyer in most situations. However, accidents involving animals, like other legal cases, can be complex. Managing your case can be a full-time job. You’ll need to understand legal jargon like subpoenas, depositions, and motions to succeed.
With the assistance of our lawyer, you can offload this responsibility. They’ll take charge of your case and allow you to get back to the healing process uninterrupted.
There’s a range of services our lawyer can provide.
Assign Liability
Liability can be tricky in an animal crossing the street accident. Animals aren’t usually legal entities, and even if they appear to be responsible, you’re not able to take them to court.
This means that your lawyer will need to closely examine the facts of your case to determine who’s liable. They’ll review and leverage these types of evidence:
- Crash reports
- Medical records that demonstrate how severe your injuries are
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Expert testimonies
- Footage of the crash
- Images of the crash
Evidence can then be used to build your case. The end goal here is to assign liability. By assigning liability, you’ll hold a particular party or parties responsible and thus be able to pursue compensation.
Assigning liability typically necessitates proving these qualifiers in an animal crossing the street accident case:
- That the liable party owed you a duty of care, meaning they had a responsibility to keep you safe, and shirking these responsibilities could result in you getting injured
- That the liable party neglected their duty of care and behaved negligently
- That this negligent behavior caused your accident
- That you have demonstrable injuries stemming from this negligent behavior
As noted earlier, liable parties can take many forms in these cases. It can be difficult to figure out whose negligence caused your injury.
Negotiate With Insurers
An insurer’s job is to protect you from medical expenses related to your injuries, right? Not always. Insurers are often focused on preserving their bottom line. They may try to give you as low of a settlement as possible and then send you on your way.
An animal crossing the street accident lawyer from our firm can help you during insurance negotiations, especially if they’ve turned sour. We can:
- Identify bad faith insurance practices
- Protect you from lowball settlements
- Help you determine a fair valuation for your case
File Your Lawsuit
Not every animal crossing the street accident will involve insurers, and some may require a lawsuit. If the liable party’s insurer continues to offer you bad settlements or outright refuses to compensate you, a lawyer from our firm could take your case to court. We would:
- File a lawsuit with relevant state officials
- Fight aggressively for your compensation during the courtroom process
- Prepare you for legal proceedings, like depositions
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Client Testimonials About Loncar Lyon Jenkins’ Services
Our lawyers can provide the aforementioned services and more. We care about our clients and strive to make them feel safe and comfortable. We prepare every case we work on for trial. This makes us ready for every possible case outcome.
Testimonials from our clients demonstrate this commitment to care. Read about what they have to say about our firm:
- “Jacqui was great. Despite the complicated circumstances regarding my case, Jacqui did her best to ensure all of my medical fees were covered and that I got something back after the person who hits me’s insurance initially denied any wrongdoing and deemed me 100% liable. I am grateful for her time and patience with the case.” – Kameron M.
- “My experience from start to finish was nothing but great. Mrs. Hernandez was a key person in my case, she was very thoughtful, helpful and helped me get what I needed. I would definitely recommend them for all your legal needs!” – Linda S.
Damages in Animal-Vehicle Collisions Can Be Expensive
Animal crossing the street accidents may warrant the same types of money damages as any other motor vehicle collision. Every injury claim is different, so we cannot state a flat dollar amount that would represent how much compensation you might be eligible to pursue. The amount of damages you may seek will depend on the facts of your situation.
Here are a few examples of money damages we have won for our clients:
Medical Bills
You may be able to recover the reasonable cost of medical treatment you need for your injuries. Medical costs may include:
- Ambulance trips
- Emergency medical care
- Doctor’s appointments
- Hospital stays
- Surgeries
- X-ray exams
- Blood transfusions
- Diagnostic procedures
- Laboratory tests
- Physical therapy
- Pain management
Lost Wages
If you missed time from work without pay because of your injuries and recuperation time, we may add the amount of lost income to your injury claim. Lost wages, salary, self-employment, and other forms of compensation may also be part of this item.
Diminished Earning Capacity
Devastating injuries from a collision with an animal might have long-term effects on your ability to work. Whether you have physical limitations or cognitive impairment, you might have to take a lower-paying job or work fewer hours. This is considered an economic loss, which can be compensable in your personal injury case.
Rehabilitation Center or Long-Term Care Facility
Some severe injuries, like head trauma, require extended treatment at a specialized rehabilitation center. If your injuries are severe enough for you to require personal care or assistance performing daily activities, you might have to move into a long-term care facility, such as an assisted living facility. These healthcare facilities can be expensive, so we may choose to add these costs to your claim’s total cost of damages.
Pain and Suffering
Some damages from an animal-related accident do not come with invoices or receipts that would make it easy to calculate their economic value. Nonetheless, these things are legitimate losses that may be entitled to compensation. “Pain and suffering” is categorized as a non-economic damage and is meant to reflect the physical pain and emotional anguish a person may suffer as a result of their injury.
The compensation for non-economic damages is separate from and in addition to your economic losses like medical expenses and lost wages.
Other Intangible Losses
Other examples of non-economic losses include loss of enjoyment of life, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and disfigurement.
You do not have to calculate the amount of your potential damages on your own. A Dallas animal crossing the street accident lawyer at Loncar Lyon Jenkins may determine which of your losses could be compensable.
Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions (WVCs) Show Highest Numbers in Texas
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 190 collisions between vehicle drivers and animals ended in fatalities in 2018. Of all 50 states, Texas had the highest number of motor vehicle collisions with animals nearly every year from 2009 to 2018.
Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) are not just a rural problem. Accidents may also involve small or medium stray animals and pets off their leashes, which can occur in both urban and suburban areas.
Get Legal Help for Your Dallas County Animal-Vehicle Collision Case
An animal crossing the street accident lawyer from our firm may be able to help you identify liability for your injuries and other losses. We are not afraid of tough cases.
Call in the Strong Arm at Loncar Lyon Jenkins to help you get the compensation you need. You can call us today for a free consultation.
