Motorcycle rider killed in crash with dog

A motorcycle rider in Iowa was killed last week when a dog ran out in the road in front of him.  He hit the dog, lost control of his bike, and was thrown from the bike.  He suffered fatal injuries as a result.

Does the owner of the dog have any liability to the estate of the deceased rider, or does the estate have some liability to the dog owner?  It is an unfortunate situation either way, but the law in Illinois provides a clear cut answer.

The dog owner is liable for this wrongful death motorcycle accident.  There are a couple of reasons for this:

• There is a statute in Illinois called the Domestic Animals Running at Large Act, which places liability on the owners of animals that get out of an enclosure (i.e., a yard) and cause injury while running at large; and
• The Illinois Motor Vehicle Code does not place any responsibility on the motorcycle rider to stop to avoid the dog.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I have handled two cases with similar facts.  One was a case very much like this, except the rider was not killed in the motorcycle crash.  In the other the dog jumped out an open window and attacked the rider as he went down the street.  That one also did not result in fatal injuries, but the rider was seriously injured.

In both cases, they key to the injured rider's recovering any compensation was the existence of homeiowner's insurance which covered the dog's owner for the actions of the dog, just like with a dog bite suit. 

Woman dies of heart attack following dog bite attack

A woman from South Carolina died last week following a dog bite attack from a pit bull owned by her nephew.  The autopsy performed on the woman showed that she had an enlarged heart which may have left her predisposed to having a heart attack.

This story brought to mind a truism in the law which is that the tort defendant takes his victim as he finds him.  It is also referred to as the eggshell plaintiff rule.

What this means is that even when the accident victim has a preexisting condition which left him or her more susceptible to injury, the defendant is liable for all of the damages that he causes, even if it is more than you might have otherwise expected.  An example of this is if the victim had a skull that was as thin as an eggshell and was killed as a result of a glancing blow, the defendant is still liable for the wrongful death.

Because of that rule, in this case, the owner of dog is still liable for the death of this woman even though she had an enlarged heart which left her predisposed to having a heart attack during a dog bite attack.

Insurance company trying to get out of dog bite claim

There was a piece in the Morris Daily Herald recently about a lawsuit that was filed by Farmers Insurance Company regarding a dog bite claim.  The origin of the case was that a little girl was bitten by a dog owned by the Farmers insured.

The little girl's mother was the girlfriend of the son of the dog owners.  After the little girl was bitten, her father filed a dog bite lawsuit against the dog owners to recover for the damages his daughter sustained.  The dog owners, who were insured by Farmers, turned the suit over to them, expecting that they would be defended by the insurance company -- after all, that was why they paid premiums to the insurance company.

Instead, Farmers has filed a lawsuit asking for a judicial determination that there is no coverage for  the little girl's claim.  Their position is that the little girl and her mother were actually residing at the home with dog owners and therefore are excluded from coverage under the terms of the dog owners' homeowner's insurance policy.

Without taking a position on the merits of Farmers position, or whether it is right from a moral point of view, there is one point that is crucial: if Farmers gets out of covering this claim, then the little girl will probably not receive any compensation for her injuries.  This is because homeowner's insurance is the main source of compensation for dog bite victims.

More on insurance coverage for dog bite accidentrs

The Bolingbrook Sun came out with an article which discusses the difficulties that some dog owners have geeting liability insurance coverage for dog bite attacks.  This is an important issue for both pet owners (before an attack) and for dog bite attack victims (after an attack).

Two pit bulls attack sisters

Two girls from Maryland are recovering dog bite injuries that they suffered when they were attacked by two pit bulls that were owned by a neighbor.  The dogs were normally kept on a chain, but they were loose the day that they attacked the two girls.

One thing that contributes to dog bite attacks is when there are more than one dog together.  This is known pack behavior, and tends to increase the aggressiveness of any one dog in the pack.  Many serious dog bite attack happen when there are multiple dogs loose in a pack.

UPS driver suffers dog bite, loses finger tip

Dog bites suffered by delivery men can be the basis of a worker's compensation case as well as a liability suit against the dog owner.

Dogs outside day care attack woman

Earlier this week in Virginia, a woman was viciously attacked by two dogs outside of a day care center being operated out of the home of the owner of the dogs.  The two dogs inflicted such serious injuries that 170 staples were required to close wounds from the dog bites.

This lady has obviously suffered serious injuries as a result of this dog bite attack, and you have to wonder what the owner was thinking having these dogs near children and what the state was thinking allowing a day care center to  operate in a home with dogs like that nearby.

One other question that will prove to be important for the victim of this dog bite attack is how she will be compensated.  Normally, dogs bite attacks are covered by the homeowner's insurance policy for the dog owner, but since this occurred on a property that was at least mixed-use, perhaps the commercial insurance policy for the day care will apply.  This is a significant question for the victim because commercial policies tend to carry much higher limits and can provide significantly more compensation for the dog bite victim.

This is a question that an experienced persona injury lawyer would know to ask -- and get and answer to -- before trying to settle this woman's dog bite claim.

Pit bull attacks 5 year old boy

A pit bull attacked a 5 year old California boy last week, biting him in the face and ripping his cheek off.  The boy survived the attack after other children got an adult who was able to get the dog off the boy.

When children are the victims of dog bite attacks, the key elements of the damages involved are medical expenses (past and future), pain and suffering (past and future, and disfigurement.  In many cases, the medical expenses are surprisingly low.  In this case, however, they will be enormous.

In most dog bite cases, disfigurement is the single most significant element of damages.  This relates to the scarring from the injury and the impact it has on the life of the dog bite victim.  Because children frequently are not able to control the impulse to look at something unusual appearing such as bad scarring on the face, a child dog bite victim is likely to be self-conscious of his/her appearance in ways that the child's parents may not even be aware. 

As experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers, when we represent children who are the victims of dog bites, we frequently seek the testimony of people around the child such as teachers, babysitters, friend's parents, other relatives, or camp counselors to share their observations of how people act around the child.  Telling the same story from a number of different views is compelling evidence of the impact that the injury has had on the child's life and shows the damages in ways that even photographs of dog bite injuries could not.

Is your homeowner's insurance covering your dog?

While making reminder to everyone about adjusting their clocks, we would also like to remind everyone to check their homeowner's insurance to make sure that they are covered if their dog bites someone else.

The numbers on dog bite claims are staggering, both in terms of the sheer numbers as well as the costs per claim.  To limit their losses for dog bite claims, many carriers that write homeowner's insurance are including policy exclusions for dog bite claims caused by certain breeds of dogs (pit bulls in particular) that are considered to be more aggressive than others.  Unfortunately, these exclusions are valid and often buried in fine print.  This leaves the dog owbers exposed to personal liability for dog bite injuries.

As experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers, if you are a dog owner, we encourage you to disclose to your agent the fact that you own a dog and to review with him whether your dog is covered in the event of a dog bite.  Dog bite accidents are hard to prevent, so the best course of action is to make sure that you have good coverage if one happens.

Child bitten in throat by German shepherd

A 5 year old girl from Pennsylvania is in the hospital after being attacked a German Shepherd which bit her in the throat.  After several hours of surgery, she is on a ventilator and will likely be in the hospital for about a month.  The dog bite attack happened at a farm that the girl and her mother went to visit.  The dog was roaming the property unleashed and unattended, and the girl and her mother had petted the dog several times before the attack.

After the attack, authorities determined that the dog had been involved in three other dog bite attacks, including one where the victim's ear was ripped off.  After that dog bite attack, the dog owner had been ordered to keep the dog in an enclosure or to keep the dog leashed and muzzled.  He did neither of this things, with tragic consequences to this little girl.

Most dog bite suits in Illinois are prosecuted under the Animal Control Act because to pursue a common law negligence case against the owner of the dog, you have to evidence of prior aggressive behavior by the dog.  This is sometimes referred to colloquially as the "one bite rule," as in you need to show that the dog bite someone else before, although that is not a literal requirement -- you just need prior aggressive behavior by the animal.  In the Chicago area, most dogs are put down after biting someone, so there are few cases where there is a second dog bite.

I generally prefer to pursue dog bite suits under the Animal Control Act because the issue of contributory negligence is irrelevant in cases under the Animal Control, where it is a possible defense in a common law negligence case.  However, where the victim is 7 or under, the law presumes that the child cannot be guilty of contributory negligence, so as an experienced Chicago dog bite lawyer, I would not be afraid to prosecute this case as a common law negligence case because the little girl cannot be blamed for the accident.

I hope that the parents are able to handle the settlement for this injured child.  However, before that, I hope that there is insurance coverage for this dog bite because many insurance companies are restricting insurance coverage for dog bites caused by German shepherds.

Senior citizen attacked and bitten by pit bulls

A Denver area woman is in the hospital after being attacked by two pit bull mixes owned by a neighbor.  The dogs got out of the yard through a hole in the fence and attacked the woman as she went to her car.  As a result of the dog bite attack, she suffered several dog bite wounds, a broken arm, and also suffered a heart attack due to the trauma.  She remains hospitalized in critical condition.

As an experienced Chicago dog bite lawyer, I know that there are two groups which are disproportionately the victims of serious dog bite attacks: small children and senior citizens. 

Children are frequent victims of serious dog bite attacks for two reasons.  One is that due to inexperience and immaturity, they do not always recognize the danger that a particular dog may pose and not know to avoid the dog or the situation.  The other reason is that due to small size and lack of strength, they are not in a good position to get away from the attack, break off the attack, or resist an attacking dog.  As a result, they tend to suffer more serious injuries in dog bite attacks.

Senior citizens are the other group of people who tend to suffer serious injuries as a result of dog bite attacks.  The main reason that seniors tend to be seriously injured at a more frequent rate relates to their physical condition: they tend to be more physically debilitated and less able to avoid or resist an attacking dog.  Further, once they are attacked, they tend to suffer injuries besides the lacerations and puncture wounds that are commonly associated with dog bite injuries.  Fractures from falling or being knocked to the ground by a dog, or as here, stress-related heart attacks tend to exacerbate the consequences of a dog bite attack.

Average dog bite claim costs insurers over $24,000

I saw a piece in the news recently which stated that according to the Insurance Information Institute, for the 2008 calendar, costs for dog bite claims were up 8% over the previous year, totaling $387 million, with an average of $24,461 per claim.

One factor that they attributed the increase in claim costs to was the rapid rise of medical costs.  This does not seem accurate to me as an experienced Chicago dog bite lawyer.  In almost every dog bite case I have handled, the medical expenses were usually fairly low -- most often consisting of a trip to the emergency room and a few follow up appointments.  Plastic surgery for scar revision is normally done in a plastic surgeon's office, so even for the clients who have had that happen, the medical expenses have not been as large as is normally the case in many of my other cases.

For my clients, the true cost of the claim is disfigurement resulting from the scarring from the dog bite.  We usually advise clients to take serial photos while the bite is healing to document the truly slow progression of the healing from the dog bites.  Also, we do not even consider settling a case until the healing is complete -- a process that takes 6 months to a year.

When you wait the true amount of time it takes for healing to be complete, you are left with the true result of the dog bite -- often scars that last a lifetime.  Many people settle dog bite claims early on, before the healing is complete, with a notion that they will eventually look the same as they did the day before the were attacked by the dog.  This almost never happens.

In truth, that average settlement number should be much higher.  I suspect it isn't because people accept cheap and early settlements from insurers too often.

Update on homeowner's insurance coverage for dog owners

I have written previously in my blog about the fact that some insurance companies will not write homeowner's coverage for for you if you own a dog of a certain breed or will exclude dog bites done by that breed of dog from coverage.  The reason that some insurance companies will exclude dog breeds from homeowner's coverage is that these breeds tend to have a higher incidence of biting and a higher average payout per settlement.  Not surprisingly, pit bulls, rottweilers, and other large dogs are on this list.

I saw a recent update on this practice in the news the other day, and thought it appropriate to remind readers of this blog that this occurs.  For dog owners, understanding whether your dog is covered or not is crucial because your homeowner's insurance is what will cover you in the event that there is a dog bite attack by your dog.

If you have any uncertainty as to whether you and your dog are covered, you should discuss the matter with your agent.

Neighbors say that pit bull attack on 9 year old girl could have been prevented

In Texas, neighbors are angry at local animal control authorities in Killeen after a 9 year girl was the victim of a pit bull attack.  They claim that they had called multiple times about two pit bulls which had been menacing people from the neighborhood even though they were tied up in a fenced yard.  For their part authorities claim that they were out to the home three times and did not see evidence that the dogs were vicious.  The attack happened when one of the pit bulls got loose and out of the yard and severely injured the girl by biting her.

Chicago has a notably strict dangerous dog ordinance.  It has several definitions of what a dangerous dog is.  One them includes a dog that on more than one occasion without provocation menaces a person outside of the owners property or on the public way.  That would include barking aggressively, lunging, growling, and leaping at people on the sidewalk.

Once a dog is declared dangerous by animal control, the owners must comply with a number of requirements, including neutering the dog (which tends to reduce aggressiveness), buying liability insurance, muzzling and leashing the dog off property, dog training classes, and building a pen for the dog on the property.

If you have concerns about a dog in the neighborhood that you think would be a hazard to children or senior citizens in the neighborhood, you should contact Animal Control to see whether the dog should be declared dangerous or not.

Rantoul senior suffers broken hip after being knocked down by dog

A Rantoul woman is recovering after suffering a fractured hip after being knocked over during an attack by a pit bull.  The dog has been taken by authorities, and although the dog lived in the woman's neighborhood, no one is claiming ownership of the dog.

One strange feature of Illinois' "dog bite statute" is that it does not require that the dog actually bite the victim for the victim to recover compensation for his or her injuries.  The "dog bite statute" is formally known as the Animal Control Act, and all the it requires is that the victim be injured in an "attack" by the animal (which does not even have to be a dog) which can include jumping up on someone and knocking them to the ground.  Our office has successfully prosecuted a number of cases like that.

Dog bite case settled

A settlement in a dog bite attack lawsuit in Michigan was settled recently for the sum of $115,000.  The settlement was reached on behalf of a girl who was attacked by a neighbor's dog in 2006.  The dog bit the girl several times, causing numerous puncture wounds.

As an experienced Chicago dog bite lawyer, there are a few points I would like to make about this news story:

• The case was settled last week even though it took place in 2006.  Cases can take that long to resolve, even when the liability for the dog bite is clear.  At a minimum, I advise my clients to not even think about trying to settle a case until the dog bite would has healed substantially which may take a year or more.  Until the healing is largely complete, we do not know what kind of residual scarring the dog bite victim will have, and the permanent disfigurement resulting from the dog bite is an important issue when trying to arrive at a fair settlement figure.
• The settlement in this case was paid by the homeowner's insurance for the owner of the dog.  Once a claim is turned over the insurance company, they get to make all of the decisions about whether a settlement offer will be made, and if so, for how much.
  

Mail carrier attacked by pit bull

A mail carrier in Miami was injured in a pit bull attack as she delivered mail to the dog's home.  She was severely injured in  the dog bite attack, and may lose a finger as a result of the injuries she sustained in the attack.

As a federal employee, she is eligible to pursue a claim for worker's compensation benefits under the Federal Employee's Compensation Act.  However, because the statute is designed to favor the government and to deter attorney involvement, our firm would not be able to assist her in the pursuit of benefits.

However, one avenue to compensate this woman for her injuries would be a third party dog bite liability suit against the dog's owners.  This would allow her to recover a fuller range of compensation than she will ever receive from the Post Office.  This is a service that our firm offers to injured postal employees.

One interesting item in reviewing this news story was the tips for preventing dog bites offered by the U.S. Post Office.

Tips for dog bite victims

The Chicago Tribune ran an article in today's magazine section with tips for victims of Chicago dog bite attacks.  It is a pretty good primer for what to do is you or a child is bitten by a dog.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer who has handled several dog bite cases, I would emphasize the importance of two points:

• The wound must be cleaned carefully to prevent infection; and
• Animal control should be contacted, even if you know the dog or dog owner.  Not only does this help you get valid information regarding the rabies status of the dog, but the investigation will help develop information that may be useful in a later civil lawsuit.

Homeowner's insurance may not cover all dog breeds

A study by the Insurance Information Institute shows that dog bite insurance claims cost the insurance industry $356.2 million in 2007.  Some of those claims involved serious injuries caused by certain breeds of dogs that tend to cause more serious injuries.  These breeds include: wolf hybrids, Akitas, American Bandogge Mastiffs, Boerboels, Chow-Chows, Doberman pinschers, Rotweillers, and Pit Bull breeds. 

Because of the expense of the claims associated with dog bite attacks by these breeds, some homeowner's insurance policies have begun to exclude injuries caused by those dog breeds (including mixed breeds) from coverage.  That means that if you own a dog that is one of those breeds or a mix of those breeds (such as a pit bull-lab mix) and your dog bites someone, you have no insurance coverage for the resulting injuries.

All dog owners should take a few steps to make sure that they have coverage:

• Review their homeowner's policy for any breed-specific exclusion;
• Watch carefully for any notices of changes in policy terms;
• Disclose to your homeowner's carrier that you have a dog and the breed of dog;
• Consult with your agent to make sure that you are covered for injuries caused by your dog; and
• If your dog is excluded from coverage, switch carriers.  Dog bite settlements can be quite substantial and you do not want to be without coverage.
   

Child seriously injured by pit bull

An 8 year old Tennessee girl was seriously injured by a pit bull when she attempted to break up a fight between her dog and the pit bull.  When she tried to break up the dog fight, she suffered multiple dog bite injuries, severe enough that she had to be taken to the hospital from the scene by helicopter.  She has since undergone over 40 hours of surgery.

One of the most dangerous things to do is try to break up two dogs that are fighting, even for adults, but this is especially true for children, especially when dogs as powerful as a pit bull is involved in the fight.  Children should be taught to never get in the middle of dogs that are fighting and to get an adult.

The medical bills that this child's family has incurred is likely to be astronomical, and they should give serious thought to pursuing a dog bite suit against the owners of the pit bull, especially since the pit bull was apparently loose and unattended.  However, as an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I would expect that this child will be looking at an uphill fight initially as the insurance company for the dog owners try to deny liability claiming that she was responsible for her own injuries by getting in the middle of the fighting dogs.  There are a number of ways to defeat this argument, but it will take skilled legal assistance to make sure that this girl is properly compensated for her injuries.

Senior citizen attacked by pack of neighborhood dogs

A senior citizen in Washington state required hospital care after being attacked by a pack of neighborhood dogs.  She was out walking when she was confronted by a group of four dogs, including three pit bulls, who lived in the neighborhood.  The dogs attacked her until she was able to escape and seek help from other neighbors.

There are two groups who are disproportionately the victims of dog bite attacks: small children and senior citizens.  In this case, the senior citizen was confronted with a pack of dogs, apparently unattended to by their owners.  One well recognized feature of dog behavior is that being part of a pack is very stimulating for the dogs that are part of the pack, and many normal behavioral inhibitions of a dog is lost when it is part of a pack.

In situations such as this, if you are confronted with an unattended pack of dogs, the safest course of action is to get away as quickly as possible without further exciting the dogs.  This is true even if you know the dogs from other encounters.  Dog packs simply are not safe to be around.

Fatal dog bite attack study released

A dog bite safety and advocacy organization released a study of fatal dog bite attacks in the United States from 2006-08.

It was little surprise that pit bulls, rottweilers, and bulldogs accounted for 77% of fatal dog bite attacks.  The one surprising statistic contained in the study was that adults were more frquently victims than children.  The conventional wisdom is that childrfen would have been more ferquent victims of dog bite attacks because of their smaller size and inexperience inrecognizing which dogs and/or dog behaviors represented threats to their safety.  Of all age groups, seniors citizens were the victims of fatal dog bite attacks most ferquently.

Almost half of all fatal dog bite attacks (44%) involved multiple dogs.  From this, it appears that pack behavior of dogs is an important factor in the severity of the dog bite attacks.

Massachusetts boy attacked by pit bull

A 4-year old Massachusetts boy was injured last weekend when he was attacked by a pit bull owned by his uncle.   The boy sustained serious injuries to his face and underwent surgery to repair the lacerations and puncture wounds from the attack by the pit bull.  The uncle surrendered the dog to authorities to have the pit bull euthanized.

One of the factors that the animal control warden noted may have been important in causing in the pit bull's attack was the fact that the pit bull was not neutered.  He stated that unneutered dogs were three times as likely to engage in dog bite attacks as neutered animals.  Of course, another factor in the attack is that the child was so small and not able to readily distinguish the threat posed by a dog such as a pit bull.

Word to the wise: keep small children away from unneutered animals, especially pit bulls.