Stray horse causes multi-vehicle accident that leaves one dead
May 31, 2015On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Monday, May 14, 2012.
When a stray animal causes a severe car accident, who should be found liable? That’s not always easy to determine, but if an animal’s owner can be located, should they be part of an investigation?
It doesn’t happen all that often, but a man was driving down the road recently when he encountered a horse running straight at him. The 63-year-old man was traveling south on Highway 29 in the left lane in Molino over the weekend. At that time, he saw the horse running northbound in his lane.
He was unable to avoid hitting the horse with the front end of his 2007 Kia, and this set off a multi-vehicle crash. The man, who was from Pensacola, died from his injuries, while his 56-year-old passenger was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries. Pictures posted to local news websites show the vehicle after the crash. The top of the car on the driver’s side appears totaled.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the horse came to rest in one of the southbound lanes, where it was struck by two other vehicles. At least one person in one of those vehicles sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The horse did not survive the accident, and it’s unknown if authorities can track where it can from. The accident could have caused even more injuries or fatalities had any of the vehicles collided with each other. Each vehicle struck only the horse.
Source: NorthEscambia.com, “One killed in multi-vehicle crash with a horse,” May 14, 2012
