Liability Question

[Bret Austin]

Last night I was mowing at a factory along a highway. The ditch is full of rocks, road debris, etc. I've mowed it before and not had anything happen, but this area tends to be under constant change as far as rocks, etc. Any way, I kicked a rock out onto the highway and you guessed it, a car hit it. You mean it hit a car right? No, the rock (about the size of a golf ball) was sailing peacefully across the 4 lane road when a car hit the rock. The car hit it right on the front bumper somwhere. They turned off the road and got out to inspect the damage. I was just waiting for them to come back and start cursing. They got back in the car and kept driving. I don't know if it made a dent or not, it made a loud thud when they hit it.
This area is bad, if I mow in the opposite direction, I would have hit the building or a car in the parking lot. It's a tough situation, and not the most desireable place to mow. Anyway, who's at fault when this happens?

Thanks.

[Lobster]

Bret, I'm no lawyer, but common sense would tell me that if it could be proven in court that you shot that rock onto the highway, you may be liable. Luckily the rock didn't go through a car window and hurt somebody physically. I would consider the risk of hitting a building vs the potential of seriously hurting an individual. Can the landowner clean up this area of grass that you mow? Can the landowner pay you to cleanup this area of the lawn? I may be out in left field, but if I were you, I would consider arrangements to clean this area up, or not mow it at all based on the public safety issues, as well as the safety issues concerning you and your equipment.

[TGCummings]

Bret,

If it's just a ditch with rocks and debris, can you just keep the growth killed with Roundup instead of mowing it? That's a *dangerous* situation, and you're liable for whatever your mower kicks out. The next thing you hit might be a lawsuit...

-TGC

[joshua]

to avoid throwing another rock at the site you were at last night either bag, or put the mulching shield on, (not the kit) just so that you don't take the risk of hitting another car and them coming back for ya. i hope this helps you buddy

[Bret Austin]

keep in mind this is south dakota. there are more cows than cars and the building and employee parking lot are always going to be there versus an occaisional car out on the highway.

anyway, roundup is out of the question as the ditch rolls into the lawn and would look odd if it were dead. the debris removal from the site is borderline. since it is the ditch and things are always changing, a cleanup of this area would only last a short time. i think the thing to do is set my mower at about 4.5" or so and just let it be long there. :blob3:

but i am still curious on the legal issue. in talking to my friends, they seem to think that it would be pretty hard to prove an object came from my mower. similar to when you are driving down the highway and get a rock chip from a passing vehicle. how do you prove that? anyway, the whole thing sucked. it's not a good feeling when you *know* you did it.

[Likestomow]

Bret, if you really are all that curious about the legal issue here, think of it in reverse.

Say you were driving your vehicle along the road, the rock hit your car, and you saw this guy mowing with the mower aimed toward the road. Now there is a dent in your vehicle, damage probably in the hundreds (what isn't these days!).... what would you do?

Just make sure you have a good commercial liability policy (you do have one, right?) and then use good common sense. Take steps to avoid problems. If there are cars driving by, maybe you should pause until they pass, and then resume mowing. A little caution can avoid a great deal of frustration and lost time.

[lawnboy82]

they are gonna hold you liable. if they can prove it which is not that hard to do. with your mower maybe you should put the debris shield down for this ditch? or you could try to do some primo applications. however that just cuts back on the number of times you have to mow. and as we all know it just takes one time to do some damage

[thelawnguy]

In CT your ins co would put the claim to the vehicle owners ins co so its a pretty much wasted call.

Around here anything involving a moving vehicle is the vehicle owners responsibility (or their ins co-no fault laws). If the persons ins co decides to chase you down then so be it.

[HOMER]

I had a guy claim that I picked up a rock while mowing and hit his windshield. He was very angry and wanted to know my Insurance Co. and all this other crap. I would have been more than willing to accomodate him but he didn't strike me as being an honest person, although he claimed he was a preacher. I never hit a rock! If I knew that I had hit the rock I would have fixed it, but you know when you do and I knew I didn't. I knew there were rocks there and my deck was at 2.5 inches, the rocks were pea size in that area. My Insurance Co. would have paid but the guy would have to prove that it came from my mower. At the same time he had his windshield cracked there were dump trucks hauling gravel down the hiway and he was behind one of the trucks. I think I was easier prey than the trucks. It never got fixed by me and it wasn't his vehicle either, he had borrowed it for the weekend from a car dealership.........testing it out!

[lakegastonla]

I would spray the ditch to kill all things green, then rip rap that sucker. Easy sell to the customer because this also prevents erosion of the ditchbank and too, it prevents you from tracking it up when it's wet. Good opportunity to make extra cash, here. Good luck!

[Fantasy Lawns]

you'd be at fault ....we have one open chute mower (60") and what we do when in this situation is .....

put the chute down ....take 2 small vise grips n' a heavy piece of shag carpet little larger than chute open ....use the vise grips to create a drape over the chute .....

it will allow the discharge to still work ...while it will deflect or slow debri's

[iski3d]

CAN U SAY WEED-WACKER?

[smalltime]

You would be at fault, unless it was avoidable on the driver's part. Since the rock hit in the grill area, my guess is that he could not avoid it. It could have been much worse. I remember a number of years back in my hometown a piece of shrapnel coming off a truck hauling scrap metal. The shrapnel went through a driver's side window and killed a guy.:angel: This was in a 40mph zone.

On the other hand, a lifted 4X4 that lost its rear drive shaft as we pass each other at 55mph, is considered an act of God. That is if the driver of the 4X4 was not negligent. I had no time to react. It was like a rocket. Went through my lower valance on the front of my mini van, went through the radiator support bracket, through the fender and out through the inner fender. At first glance I did not see any damage. Then I looked below the bumper and saw about $1700 worth. I was lucky because when I first saw it, it had bounced to eye level, must have been the back of it. The front was lower and drew the back of it down and probably stopped it from coming through the windshield. If the front had bounced up I would not have been able to do a thing about it.

Back to your subject, now that you have discussed this issue, you "Have" to do something about it. Because if it was to happen again, and an insurance company could trace this posting back to you, you would be negligent, no questions asked.

Be careful, I am sure you will figure out something to resolve the issue. A heavy steel plate would probably do it.

Steve

[KD'sLawns]

Since you can not spray the ditch, I would do what you suggested.
Set your mow height up to avoid rocks. Talk to the owner and explain the situation to them. Tell them you are raising the height unless they want to pay a clean-up fee every mowing.
As far as what they could do to you for hitting their car goes: There are enough crazy people out there that probably wouldn't even care about the money aspect of the incident. They might be already having a terrible day and just pull out a gun or something!!! In todays society it is very likely.

[Pauls Mowing]

I mow 2 miles of railroad right-of-way, right through the middle of Sioux Falls, all residential. Using a 26" brush head with the blade removed, and use 170 mil trimming cord. I always discharge towards the bottom of the ditch, mow at 5" cutting height. I weed wack what the mower won't get, and if I have to, call the cops to keep the kids out of the way. It can be a pain, but it pays very well. So far, so good. Can't be too carefull.

Paul

[Avery]

We mow the right-of-ways and a multi-use (ie. bicycle path) for a town in our area. We use a Toro 325D with a flail deck for the very reason you stated here. Right equipment for the job is a must. Flails cannot throw objects and you can cover alot of area quickly. Plus they stripe great! If you are doing alot of mowing along public roads/building it may pay you to invest in a flail unit.