Driver hit chicken, wants us to pay for new bumper

[roostersandhens]

Is your chicken okay? Poor chicken! That terrible person! Poor poor chicken

And anyway it is their fault for hitting the poor chicken anyway!

 

[MaPa26]

Coralietg,
I am so sorry about your situation. I would be so mad, especially if it meant I had to quit letting my chickens free range. I would contact all the people in your area, who raise chickens, and let them know what happened. Also, let them know WHO is making a little bumper dent into such a big to do. But first of all, I'd make a large fenced in run and make sure your chickens don't get out, then perhaps you could keep them. But if you do get rid of them, if it were me, I'd want to raise some ruckus so I would put a sign in my yard and have it read:

FREE eggs !!!
I would make the word eggs just small enough that they can't read it while speeding by! I would just want to see how many people would slow down in order to read what was being given away for free! IF anyone actually stopped to ask about them, I'd tell them they have to sign up and take a turn getting some free eggs. I know. Silly. But I'd just want to do SOMETHING to point out to people that they are going too fast. Also ask if they would sign a petition to get the road speed limit checked and monitored. If you have to give up your chickens, I'd tell them that you had to because a speeder hit and killed one and wanted their bumper replaced as a result, and the fact of the matter is, if people are going to speed and end up in a wreck because of a chicken, you didn't want to be a contributing factor. It's just a lousy situation, any way you look at it. People who would hit any animal in the road (turtle, turkey, frog, rabbit, skunk, raccoon, squirrel, deer, etc...) have no one to blame but themselves, for speeding, and nature. But if they have someone they can blame it on, they will.

 

[Coralietg]

We spoke to our insurance agent today. He said that we should hear from someone from our insurance company to get our side, if it gets subrogated. I guess that makes sense, as otherwise anyone could make a claim against another with no proof.

We are going to finish fencing them to a particular area and clip a wing so they can't fly over the fence. We also made a call to the Sheriff's Department to ask about a mobile speed device. They are going to get back to us on Monday.

I made my partner drive our stretch in front of the house today at 20mph, just to make sure we are not misjudging the speed. We aren't. We also wanted to check stopping distance at 20mph, he asked me to throw out a reel of wire when he was about 50 feet away. I stepped into the road instead, he stopped 10 feet away from me. That isn't a very valid example though, as there was 500ft of visibility of the chicken in the road, they would have had plenty of time to anticipate slowing at the least.

 

[TTracy]

We spoke to our insurance agent today. He said that we should hear from someone from our insurance company to get our side, if it gets subrogated. I guess that makes sense, as otherwise anyone could make a claim against another with no proof.



We are going to finish fencing them to a particular area and clip a wing so they can't fly over the fence. We also made a call to the Sheriff's Department to ask about a mobile speed device. They are going to get back to us on Monday.



I made my partner drive our stretch in front of the house today at 20mph, just to make sure we are not misjudging the speed. We aren't. We also wanted to check stopping distance at 20mph, he asked me to throw out a reel of wire when he was about 50 feet away. I stepped into the road instead, he stopped 10 feet away from me. That isn't a very valid example though, as there was 500ft of visibility of the chicken in the road, they would have had plenty of time to anticipate slowing at the least.

I am glad you guys are being proactive! I still say they would have to drag me into small claims before they would get a dime!!!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

We spoke to our insurance agent today. He said that we should hear from someone from our insurance company to get our side, if it gets subrogated. I guess that makes sense, as otherwise anyone could make a claim against another with no proof.



We are going to finish fencing them to a particular area and clip a wing so they can't fly over the fence. We also made a call to the Sheriff's Department to ask about a mobile speed device. They are going to get back to us on Monday.



I made my partner drive our stretch in front of the house today at 20mph, just to make sure we are not misjudging the speed. We aren't. We also wanted to check stopping distance at 20mph, he asked me to throw out a reel of wire when he was about 50 feet away. I stepped into the road instead, he stopped 10 feet away from me. That isn't a very valid example though, as there was 500ft of visibility of the chicken in the road, they would have had plenty of time to anticipate slowing at the least.

you stepped into the road? really? how hard do you want to prove something? what if another one of your speeders came by at that time? bet your partner had to wash his/her pants. i know i would

 

[Whoops]

Yes, you need to keep you chickens contained. But, there are no guarantee a road is free of obstructions, be they chickens, coyotes, crows, pets, children, fallen branches, pot holes, stalled vehicles, or whatnot. It is the driver's responsibility to watch out for them and drive in a manner that allows time to avoid them.

Poor chicken.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

if that had been a child those people would be in prison for reckless driving. just saying....

 

[Trapper66]

Deductible does not come into play for someone else filing a claim against you.

 

[Trefoil]

Years ago a lady came to our house one night saying she had hit one of my horses. I immediately called the police and while waiting for them to arrive had her show me her vehicle. She had a small car, I believe it was a chevette and it had a dent in the hood that you had to get eye level with to see. She said she had hit the breaks when she saw it and she had knocked my horse off its legs and it had fell on the hood before slipping off then getting up and running away. I had the opposite problem as you are having. The is no way in H she hit one of my horses, if she had her hood would have been squashed, I tried to explain that to her but she was adamant. Then the police came and told her the same thing & offered to take her to see a car that had hit a horse, I finally ended up taking them both out to the barn to see that 1- my horses weren't out and 2- I didn't have an injured horse. We never did figure out what she hit.
In your case If they didn't call the police to the accident, they have no claim. There is no way that hitting a 5lb(if that) chicken at 20 miles an hour could do that kind of damage. They can't claim that it did because they would have to claim (admit) that they were speeding and even then it isn't certain that it could have caused the damage. If the insurance company does call you, explain that this person didn't call the police or contact you at the time. That x # of hours or days later they called/stopped or whatever and claimed that they had hit your chicken with damage as a result.

 

[HappyRoo]

country roads 20 mile hr ? I live in country 50+ city speed is 20 mile