Accident with a dog on the motorway

Alright dennis , long time no speak, Bad times about the accident ! ..Sorry to be the bearer of even more bad tidings but the insurance will be very unlikely to fix your ti , almost guaranteed as a write off for that level of damage .

Now while its no fault of your own and the dog owner was in the wrong I would feel pretty bad about pursuing her for cash myself after killing her mutt , I suspect you'll end up chalking this one up to "one of those things" and fixing the mighty ti yourself with salvage parts ?

tikkathree wrote: I feel for you and understand your inability to avoid this accident: leaving a safe braking distance from the car in front is one thing but we progress along any road in the hope that nothing and no-one will pop out in front of us. In a previous job when I spent most of the day in the car I collected two deer in 4 months.

You ought to thank your lucky stars that the dog didn't come up over the bonnet and through your windscreen: you might be posting from a hospital bed otherwise.

I have dogs, we had cats for many years and, frankly, flat cat was an occupational hazard which we experienced too often. If my dog ever caused an accident I have no doubt that I would be responsible.

You should not have to bear the cost of repair but I'd leave it in the hands of my insurance company.

The dog went underneath the car. Could have been worse as you say if it went on top of the bonnet. The dog just popped out of the metal railings on the motorway and onto the path of the car. It was a big dog, looked like an Alsatian, and I think if I had a smaller car, the car would have dangerously swerved out of control.

amtcoupe wrote: Alright dennis , long time no speak, Bad times about the accident ! ..Sorry to be the bearer of even more bad tidings but the insurance will be very unlikely to fix your ti , almost guaranteed as a write off for that level of damage .

Now while its no fault of your own and the dog owner was in the wrong I would feel pretty bad about pursuing her for cash myself after killing her mutt , I suspect you'll end up chalking this one up to "one of those things" and fixing the mighty ti yourself with salvage parts ?

Hi Andy, I feel bad for the dog. I will try fix the car myself, I will put it up tomorrow on axle stands to check for any damage underneath as the dog went under the car. I hope the radiator, aircon condenser and intercooler are fine, I will have a look, coolant is leaking slowly though but I hope it is just from a stressed hose, fingers crossed. For the power steering pipe, I think I can make it out of the copper brake pipes as I have a flaring kit. Head lamp I will get a salvage one. The only challenge will be how to hammer the bent beam back. I think it is do able. I will just use the damaged bumper it doesn't look so bad.

Horrid thing to happen, such a shock to the system, glad you are OK. Car damage can be sorted, but could have been so much worse.

We have £2 million pet liability cover with our Household Insurance, not sure what is and isnt covered, but the poor lady might be able to cover your costs if she has a similar policy.

http://www.highhouseinsurance.com/content/does-home-insurance-cover-damage-and-liability-related-dogs

Did a quick Google and found the above.

Dont have bad dreams, you did all you could to avoid the accident and could do no more.

Thanks I will check the site out. The cops said she is too distressed to talk to give her details so they , the cops, will contact me tomorrow to give me her details. Why do they want to give me her details? I don't understand this part.

I would assume that they will give you the details so that you can sort out how she pays for the damage to your car.

She might want to settle direct with you, or go through any Insurance Co. she might have.

Plus, if you are letting your Insurance Co know, they will want to contact her to recover any costs involved in putting your car right.

Might be worth a phone call to your Insurance Co and see what they say about it.

Less you are considering doing it yourself and just claiming the costs back from her, sounds a bit harsh but why should you suffer any loss, due to her dog running loose. (and I'm a dog lover and feel for her)

Sorry to read about this.

Leigh Ping wrote: Sorry to hear about this Denis. Yes, you have to report a collision with a dog but not a cat. Mans' best friend and all that........

The law says you have to report domesticated abimals but not wild animals, cats are deemed to have free will and as such are classed as wild.

Likewise if the animal causes an accident the owner is liable, wild animals don't have owners.

very sad.... but totally not your fault and understandable that you are shook up....


something for us dog owners to think about though and i hold my hands up its something i don't always do.

when you are travelling in the car with your dog are they secured in?? recently a van with boxer dogs was involved in an accident and they escaped from the vehicle at the site of the accident. one was hit by a car on the motorway, a couple were killed in the van and one ran off... we never think its going to happen to us but its worth thinking about.

Now I'm not handing this out as advice , I am only going to tell you what I personally would do , I would avoid the insurance like the plague , it would only cost me more in the long run with no short term gain to even offset it , the insurance will write off the car , its sadly worth SFA to begin with , take away my excess and I'd be left with no car and a couple of hundred nicker in my pocket at best .

Then think of the increased premiums next year and the year after that or answering "yes" when they ask "any accidents or claims in the last 5 years ?" at quote time .

I would get her details from old bill , send her a sympathy card (keep it general and dont incriminate myself) , fix the car as cheaply as possible (I could probably find most of the bits needed from the 600 section on .org ) give it a couple of weeks and then send her the bill more in hope than expectation , perhaps put a cover note with it explaining that I didnt go through the insurance as I didnt want her getting dragged through the courts for a hugely inflated insurance repair bill at this difficult time etc etc . If she decides to cough up great , if not ....well I'd still be better off than if I'd involved the insurance

I very much doubt that she would have a leg to stand on coming after you for hitting her dog on the motorway, the owner should have their pet under control, and running loose on a motorway is hardly under control, even if the dog had escaped from her property.

I don't have many 600 bits still, but I do still have the rad fans should you find you need them.

Main thing is that you're OK.
Not your fault, not the dogs fault, owners fault pure and simple. If they're not insured then pursue them via small claims.

They'll be wanting you to have her details then you can pursue a claim.
As said, some household policies will cover accidents caused by pets, but that's also why pet owners, especially dog owners are encourage to take out insurance such as PetPlan. Had I been the owner in this case I would be expecting a claim to be made, however distressed I was. Our dog is insured...as a rescue dog, we were very aware that she may behave unpredicatably or try to run away. We live by a very busy road, so insurance was a priority for us, as the risk of accidents was high.

A note for other dog owners.... we also took a leaf from David's book and bought a good car harness for Peppa that secures into the seatbelt. This means that she is secured in the car in case of accidents or stopping to offer emergency assistance at an accident- very important in an open top car

Try not to worry Denis, her only defence, as far as I can see from reading similar cases, is if her dog was on a lead or tethered and broke free. Given that this was on a motorway I doubt she'll be able to claim that defence.

I do feel for her, she's lost her dog - but I'm sure that you are the real victim in the eyes of the law :hugs:

I had almost the identical accident 33 years ago. I was driving my MGB-GT on the highway, at night, in the rain, doing about 80MPH, rounding a curve when a BIG alsatian appeared in my headlighst a couple of metres in front of the car. It was almost like a flash photo. Like you I had no time to avoid the dog. The impact sent the front of the car into the air, and I was lucky not to lose control. I pulled over and dragged the dog off the road-stone dead. The impact tore the front bumper in half and bent the wing into the tyre. The fog lights were destroyed, and the front valance badly damaged. I was lucky that my insurance covered the damage.
I'm glad you came out of it in one piece.