Maison Law represents California victims who have been injured after a fall caused by a dog. Our California Dog Knock Down Injury Lawyers assist victims in getting the support they need to make a full recovery. Please contact us after an accident caused by a dog for a free, no-obligation consultation for you and your family. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold dog owners responsible.
When Do I Need a Lawyer After a Fall Caused by a Dog?
If you or a loved one suffers a serious injury after a fall caused by a dog, it’s a good idea to talk over your options with a California personal injury lawyer. A serious injury may include a bone fracture or even head trauma. When the medical bills go higher than a few hundred dollars, insurance providers for dog owners start to get nervous.
They don’t want to have to pay for weeks or months of doctor bills, even if their policyholder is 100% responsible for an accident involving a dog. Sometimes it’s critical to have a legal representative on your side to make sure insurance companies can’t wiggle out of taking responsibility and leave you zero support.
You’ll also benefit from having a skilled attorney investigate your case and collect evidence to show that the actions of a dog and the negligence of a dog owner were responsible for your fall. Insurance companies may try to pin the blame on you by saying you were clumsy or careless. You’ll need strong evidence to hold a dog owner and an insurance company fully responsible for your injuries and recovery costs.
Fall Hazards Caused by Dogs
Dogs can make great companions, but they don’t always remain in control of their emotions. Protective dogs and even excited dogs can pose a threat to the safety of anyone entering the homes or yards where they live.
We usually think of dog bites as the biggest fear when encountering a dog, but dogs also present a hazard with their bodies when they knock victims over or trip them. It’s usually not intentional, but a fall can do serious damage to the human body, and those victims shouldn’t have to face recovery costs alone. The victims are often children and others visiting a dog owner’s home. Victims are often invited in, but the dog owner doesn’t do enough to keep a dog under control or in an enclosure.
A fall can happen in public places, even when a dog is on a leash. A dog owner may allow too much slack and let a dog jump up on somebody, disrupting their balance. Victims may take a hard fall on a sidewalk or on the ground. They can also hit their heads on an object on the way down.
Proving an Out-Of-Control Dog Caused Your Injuries
When accidents involving dogs include a bite, the liability is generally pretty simple to assign. California is a “strict liability” dog bite state. That means that dog owners are almost always held responsible for all bites, even if the dog doesn’t have a history of threatening behavior. The dog owner is liable for the victim’s injury hardships unless the victim was trespassing or provoking the dog at the time of the bite.
However, when an injury is suffered that wasn’t caused by a bite, the burden of proof for victims will be higher. When a dog knocks someone to the ground or down a flight of stairs but doesn’t bite, strict liability wouldn’t usually apply. But other personal injury laws would apply.
The biggest difference is that with a fall caused by a dog, more evidence is usually required to show the dog’s actions caused the fall. This would include demonstrating how the dog owner’s negligence allowed the dog to trip or knock someone down. A skilled lawyer with Maison Law would fully investigate your case and help you gather the strong evidence you’ll need to show that a dog and a dog’s owner contributed to your fall.
Dogs Chasing Cyclists and Motorcyclists and Causing Accidents
Dog knock down accidents often involve bicyclists or motorcyclists. A rider passing by can sometimes tempt a loose dog to give chase. The dog can collide with riders and knock them down to suffer injuries.
Even when a dog doesn’t knock a cyclist or a motorcyclist down, other accidents can still result. The fear of a pursuing dog may cause a rider to swerve into the path of a car or into an obstacle, like a tree. This chain-reaction style accident could still leave the dog’s owner liable for not having control or restraining a pet.
A California Bicycle Accident Lawyer or a California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer would gather the necessary evidence to hold every at-fault party responsible for a rider’s injuries.
Compensation Available to Victims of Falls Caused by a Dog
Trip-and-fall victims and victims of falls caused by a dog can suffer major injuries. A person sent toppling over can be left with broken wrists, arms, legs, and hip bones. They might endure a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that could include a severe concussion, memory loss, and even cause seizures.
Patients will need reimbursement for every hospital bill that arrives in the mail. They may require support to pay for physical therapy and additional surgeries in the years ahead. And if a permanent disability develops, patients could need a lifetime of home care, medical equipment, and doctor visits, just to maintain some level of freedom. They could also need constant support for their families if they can’t return to their jobs.
Your lawyer would consider all of these factors and more when deciding how much to demand in a dog accident settlement check for you. These are just some of the factors that will decide how much compensation your family receives:
- Totals on past medical bills and medical bills reasonably expected to be incurred in the future.
- Support for the pain endured by the victim.
- Support for any permanent disfigurement or disability.
- Support for the emotional trauma the victim must live with. This can include depression during a difficult recovery. It may also include anxiety and PTSD symptoms remaining after a scary dog encounter.
- Totals on the earnings and benefits lost due to the injury.
- Wrongful death benefits. Families may file a wrongful death claim after a loved one has died due to the actions of a dog. Close relatives would receive help with paying leftover medical expenses and funeral costs. Families should also receive cost-of-living support for the future when the deceased’s income will no longer be available.
Contact a California Dog Accident Lawyer
California law allows dog attack victims up to two years from the date of the accident to file an injury claim. You shouldn’t delay when looking into filing a case. If you wait, evidence can be harder to secure and witnesses harder to locate.
After you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury caused by a dog, contact a skilled Maison Law Lawyer to discuss your case, free of charge. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out about all the benefits available to you and how to hold an insurance company fully responsible.
You won’t need any upfront money if you decide we can help you earn the most for your injury and recovery costs. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement check you receive.
