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Your Dog Can Legally Take Out A Cyclist As Long As It's Not "Vicious"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 18, 2013
Modified Apr 18, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 18, 2013
Modified Apr 18, 2013
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If a dog runs across the path that you're biking in, you'd better hope it's deranged. A New York appellate court ruled that the owner of a dog who ran into a Central Park cyclist in 2009 is not liable for the cyclist's considerable injuries.
Neither side disputes that 46-year-old Wolfgang Doerr was biking in the loop when Julie Smith began slapping her thighs and calling for her shepherd mix, Lena, who was being held by Smith's boyfriend. Sensing that the dog was going to bolt out in front of him, Doerr yelled "Watch your dog!" to no avail. Lena suffered only a few bruises, but Doerr broke his jaw and several teeth.
The appellate panel ruled [PDF] that because Doerr could not prove that Lena had "vicious propensities," a strict standard set forth in case law, her owner could not be found at fault.
But in her dissent, Judge Angela Mazzarelli, notes that since the legal precedent has been set "it has been virtually impossible for people injured by animals to recover if they could not establish the defendants' knowledge of the animals' vicious propensities."
Judge Mazzarelli points out what is apparent to everyone yet applicable to no one because only laws, not reality, matter in a courtroom:
[The] plaintiff was injured because an animal did what nature permits it to do in the absence of its owner’s control. Here, conversely, the dog was in the control of defendants at all times in the split second before the accident occurred. Had Smith not called the dog, and [Smith's boyfriend] not let it go, plaintiff would have ridden past them without incident.
This may not bode well for other dog vs. cyclist lawsuits that are currently pending. Doerr's lawyer told the Post that he will appeal the decision. At press time, all dogs in New York City had joined Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes.
Tagged
bike lanes
central park
cycling
dogs
original
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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