You're riding along and a dog runs out and wipes you out – whose fault is it?

This happened to my son today. Riding along – dog runs into him and wipes him out. Looked a sore one. Before I got there the dog owner decided to start tearing strips off of my son for scaring the dog. It turns out that telling a dog owner that they are meant to have their dog under control and telling them what control means is a good way to make them really aggresive. Crazy person proceeded to grab my 8yr old son who was in tears and try to shake him – you can guess the rest.

The dog owners fault if the dog isn’t under control obviously.

you can guess the rest.

I can’t.

Holy smokes! That almost seems like a police matter.

Police 101

Holy smokes! That almost seems like a police matter.

I have clearly changed or it would have been a police matter. 😉 I didn’t even swear or raise my voice. I did however push all of the correct buttons and finished with “Son, that’s what an idiot looks like.”

Hope your lads OK and that you’re recovering well from your beating.* 😛

*first bit’s sincere

The dog owner

@ neal He used his TKD skills to axe kick him to death then he turned on the dog*- I dont condone it but many folk would have done the same and no need to grab your son.

Very few folk will blame your son [ even on STW] but shared spaces are shared. I warn my kids not to spook dogs mainly because they are an unpredictable part of some riding environments but STILL NOT HIS /YOUR FAULT

As a dog owner myself I’d say it would be my fault if one of ours knocked somebody off a bike.

But I’m sure there will be at least 5 pages of arguments and it’ll end up being his fault for not being observant enough to predict the dog running into him 😆

It’s a fairly straight forward piece of legislation.

TKD skills

C30-C60-C90 GO!

At least it didnt happen in a Zoo.

shoot the dog!

just thought id get that in there 🙂

Cannae shoot the dog. I like dogs. Can we shoot the owner?

hang on, he grabbed your 8 year old and tried to shake him and you didn’t even swear?
f…! i’d have torn him a new one. guy needs locking up.

Sounds like the dog owner is at fault. Most genuinely don’t seem to realise they have any responsibility for the behaviour of their animal.

Owners have successfully been sued for dogs out of control causing riders to fall off – although obviously it depends on the specific circumstances etc. – I’ve had numerous instances of dogs running out onto paths from thick undergrowth in which they were invisible, some resulting in minor collisions (never anything worse than a bit of oil on the dog’s back) and it amazes me the number of people that think this is a good idea on a path that is heavily used by cyclists (and relatively near to various open spaces off limits to cyclists).

hang on, he grabbed your 8 year old and tried to shake him and you didn’t even swear?
f…! i’d have torn him a new one. guy needs locking up.

I knew that I could easily kick them into the middle to next week if I wanted to. Doing so would have given me no satisfaction. I try not to swear in front of the kids and try to set as good an example to them as I can.

If a stranger used their dog to get my child to stop cycling and stay still, then tried to kidnap my child who was shaking about as he struggled to escape, I’d have been most upset.

My meeting with an out of control dog ended up with an off and this.

Now you can both swap doggy incident tales!

Enquired about this last summer when a Sheep dog bolted out of the back of a landrover parked outside a house on the driveway, I was going downhill at a decent speed, it missed my mate somehow but broadsided my front wheel bringing me down with a bang.

minor damage to bike, cosmetic only thankfully. Large portion of skin off my hip and shorts torn to shreds. Owner got in the landrover and drove away to look for his dog and never returned.

I was told that I would have to prove the dog had a history of this to prove that the animal wasn’t under control. As you will know from previous threads on such topics, under control doesn’t have to mean on a lead apparently. I just sucked it up and let it go. I still b*tch about it constantly.

Its DOGS will.

If a dog had knocked my son off his bike I would be havin words with its owner if dog owner shock my son then talking would be low down on my list of things to do and he would be looking for a dentist 👿

No kicking the dog in the throat?
*is disappoint*
*TJ would be disappointed too*

where did this happen ? On the road or in a park. On the road deff the dog owners fault, in a park there might be an expectation of dogs running around so perhaps not so clear cut. Nothing excuses what sounds like an assault on your son. probably best not to involve the law if you robustly showed him the error of his ways. 😉

I was told that I would have to prove the dog had a history of this to prove that the animal wasn’t under control

Really the test is not does it do something out of control but whether it has done something out of control before. Odd ruling

Maybe it’s no-ones fault, just an accident? (Not condoning the dog owners reaction)

Maybe it was an accident but shaking an 8yr old is assault

Wasd your child trained to cyucle on the road or dedicated cycle path, footway cycling is illigal,

was your child wearing a helmet,

did you have proper control of your child and was he kept in sight at all times for a child of his age,

was your child wearing relevant hi viz clothing.

all questions an insurance jobsworth will ask to try and put you off claiming, thats if the dog owner had any insurance to defend.

Had a similar incident last week with an out of control dog, the dog owner starteds creaming abuse, i just rode on and pointed out to the numerous witnesses the dog was out of control and so was the ownner and to avoid him, this made him more angry as i rode off and his dog ran the other way.

Dog owner clearly at fault. Please tell me despite you keeping your cool you’ve reported said matter to the police or if not at least made sure he has to visit a dentist for shaking your son, unless of course your son is some 6’5″ freak of nature at 8 years old and he sorted out the dentistry work 😀

Section 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act** iirc – dogs must be under close control* at all times in a public space.

* not necessarily on a lead BTW

** if not, I shouted the wrong legislation at the owner of the collie that used my foot as a teething ring the other night.

And the dog owner assaulted your son. That’s a Police matter on its own, never mind the dog.

Really hope your son is ok, and that you have informed the police about this. If similar had happened to one of my boys, I’m not honestly sure what my reaction would have been, but it would probably have involved drop-kicking the dog (and probably the dog owner) into a nearby bush.

If you take the bike out of the situation – your son is moving down a track, and is knocked over by a domestic animal, which by law is required to be under control at all times. Your son is then assaulted by the owner, who is not only negligent in his duty to keep his dog under control, but is now assaulting a minor.

Call the police.

So, a while ago, I was riding in the Chiltern’s and a deer jumped across my path..had I been a second earlier it would have hot me (possibly)…had that happened (yeah, right) should I have sued the landowner (or the deer)? Again, not condoning dog owners behavior, but then I don’t understand what “I have clearly changed it” means.

There isn’t always someone at fault.

you can guess the rest

?

No one is legally required to keep a deer – or other wild animal – under close control in a public space.

Hence the difference.

Hoof the dog in the slats and stick your finger up the owners bum..

No wait.. Something like that anyway

No where does the OP say it was a public space. But really you’re missing the point ….shit happens, politely called accidents.

I have no issues with the dog. The lad learned a good lesson by getting taken out by it. It’s the complete lack of responsibility by the owner that stinks.

It happened in a park. A park that has lots and lots of signs about how to exercise your dog responsibly which includes information about having it under control at all times.

Go back on a heavier bike and run over the owner of the dog…

Doing so would have given me no satisfaction.

Well that’s boring. 😀

If it was in a park there’s a pretty good chance it will have a byelaw restricting cycling – quite a lot of parks were originally common ground and made available for grazing livestock back in the day, so the regulations for many often still reflect this.