FYI,
Here’s one site I saw, read.
Em
They might get deported of their immigration status was iffy.
Of the Fl based friends I have talked to, almost all are thinking it’s someone without a green card.
Not saying it’s fact… but even the locals are thinking that way.
E
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Notice that I left out the question of being undocumented.
There are so many reasons why someone might choose to just disappear and not file a lawsuit. For one it takes resources to find a lawyer and pay expenses even to an ambulance chaser. For another, if the person is not badly hurt they can walk away.
No license, no registration, banned from driving, wanted on other warrants,undocumented or illegal immigrant, drunk or stoned, stolen car, in commission of another crime, unsure of legality of killing a horse. There are lots of reasons you might just disappear. Any attempt to sue or even talk to police would get you in more trouble than it’s worth.
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I think the horse owner would be better off to let it go.
I was 13 when my POA pony got out of his pasture ( boarded at a friends house) one night and was hit and killed on the road in front of their house by a drunk driver. We were never responsible for any damages to his totaled vehicle and he was ok .
The police were on scene.
I was very distraught but it would have been worse if we had to pay damages too.
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This is a truly awful situation, I am so sorry for the horse, owner, and barn staff.
I am really ignorant here, so I am sorry if this is obvious, but I fail to see what good could come of suing an undocumented person or of trying to hold the farm/barn staff accountable, who could also be undocumented. Hard to say without having experienced such a terrible tragedy, but I can’t imagine suing my barn for leaving a gate open and having my horse killed on the nearby high speed/traffic road. Things happen. Snaps break. On all other days of the year, they provided excellent care. Again, so sorry for all involved!!
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I don’t think anyone would be running to sue anyone.
No one has been found who would be the driver. So status of driver’s well being and the vehicle damage is unknown.
Likewise circumstances, gate left open or what, are still being discussed.
Right now I believe anyone in the owner’s situation is just trying to figure out the next steps.
Speaking hypothetically if insurance is involved you’ll definitely have a to do list from them. And if not, you likely just have to figure out all the pieces.
I’m sad for my friend and have connected her with an equine lawyer friend who is kind and can answer her questions and give counsel if anything is needed. But I don’t think any lawsuits would be forthcoming.
Em
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I mean… it’s possible that they’re undocumented. But dude that hit my husband on 60th and Highway 40 was as white as Wonder Bread and proudly produced his Progressive insurance card that his insurance company vehemently denied that he was covered. So my point being, it could be someone undocumented, but it’s even more likely that without any other reason, he’s just uninsured and a crap human… and who knows if it’s even a “he”… look no further than our local Next Door app to find some craptacular women lacking a moral compass, as well.
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Honestly, as sad as this is, there is no one legally responsible for this accident except the horse owner and possibly the barn owner.
Why in the world would they be trying to find the driver? The only outcome from locating this person would be opening themselves up to a lawsuit by the driver and certainly the driver’s insurance company.
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It’s called closure.
She is over 1000 miles away and she wants to know who killed her horse.
She understands the liability part but she wants to know who took her horse’s life.
Em
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Closure is one of those overrated things. You won’t feel better and you could end up opening a whole can of worms, including liability.
The person who actually caused the horses death is someone at the barn who let him loose. That’s where she should be looking if she wants answers.
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Possibly some poor sod minding their own business driving down a public roadway not at all expecting a large animal to bolt in front of their path.
Your phrasing makes it sound like a conscious decision to end the horse’s existence.
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Many moons ago when I was a junior, my trainers went to a small summer rated series where they were allowed to use the facilities turn out paddock. The gate was left open by the facility owners son and the horse got loose out on the main road in front of the show. He was found on the side of the road with a broken leg and had been hit by a car. The driver was no where to be found until a few days later when he hired an attorney to sue for damages
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You’re a great friend trying to help out with this awful situation.
Sadly, though, I don’t think that there’s much of a chance at her finding closure or even accountability in the who, the hows and the whys at this stage. Heartless asshat did not stop - who knows why; and how horse became loose might never really be known. I completely understand her grief and helplessness.
It may or may not help to know that the majority of people do not behave in this way. DH has a 15 minute drive to work, along country roads that are heavily populated with our local wildlife (kangaroos, wallabys, koalas, echindas) and is therefore accustomed to driving accordingly. He hit a horse several years ago - it is more correct to say that the horse hit his vehicle. He was absolutely devastated.
In this case, it transpired that dear little horse had only just been unloaded at his new home. The new owners had not even time to close the gate when horse took off in sheer blind panic, lead rope was pulled from handler, and he careened into DH’s car. Sadly, he suffered a broken leg and was euth’d as soon as possible. Everyone in the entire scenario was heartbroken, the car suffered some damage but not for one moment would he (DH) have considered “suing”. Horses being horses, we all know that such tragic and random things happen.
I would counsel your friend to focus her grief on the loss of her beautiful horse, rather than deferring it by seeking answers which may never come.
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Agreed, this is a horrible and sad situation, but it was obviously very unintentional and it’s lucky no humans were killed. I defended a case several years ago in New Mexico where a QH gelding got out of his pasture in the middle of the night in a rural area off the I 25. He was either struck, or had already been struck and was laying in the road, by a mom driving an SUV with her two kids. The SUV rolled multiple times into a field and the mom and one child were killed. The other kid suffered horrible injuries but did survive. The owner of the horse was sued, along with several other entities. One of the worst cases I’ve ever had.
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To be clear, I cannot imagine the heartache your friend is experiencing. But as you said, I’d be questioning what exactly happened at the barn that allowed the horse to get loose, out on the road.
When searching for the driver, there is this to consider:
If the damage is to the side of the vehicle, then it sounds like perhaps the horse galloped into the truck. This has happened with both my neighbor and my barn friend, with deer. The deer bolted from the side of the road into their vehicles.
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That’s a pretty bold leap. There’s a lot of idiots tooling around here uninsured, so jumping to the undocumented is pretty textbook Florida ignorance, but not always the case.
Ocala has a VERY broad income level span… doesn’t mean that you’re here illegally… and doesn’t mean you’re paying your insurance or registering your vehicle either. People just don’t care because the chances of being pulled over on country roads is so low. I refuse to even cross an intersection when the light turns green without a pause because I’ve watched so many idiots run the lights.
There’s a reason why auto insurance is so high here compared to other areas. Lots of accidents and uninsured drivers on the road.
Still not nearly as bad as it was out in Colorado, but it’s craptacular none the less… the bottom line… I would say there’s a lot of people here that just don’t stop bc they’re not insured or just don’t care. It also happened to be St Patrick’s Day yesterday… so there’s a good chance that they were drunk too.
Did we ever figure out why the gate was left open? Oversight by barn worker or do we have another crackhead that’s letting horses loose like the one in Anthony/Citra a few weeks ago? Or was it another one of the idiots trying to steal gates? Bc that happened too.
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Even if there’s a chance the owner could be sued, the driver needs to be prosecuted, and that’s why they’re looking for him. And he will be found.
The perceived threat of being sued isn’t a valid reason not to look for him.
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Closure is a personal thing. It’s the owner’s heartache, and if it will help the owner to know who was responsible, that’s her own private path.
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