Hi, and dogs???

[Dogmama]

You do have another choice besides settling or small claims court. If you know a friendly attorney, you can ask him/her to write a demand letter which basically threatens a lawsuit without actually filing one. But first I would just tell them that $700 is just not good enough. You have no obligation to save these people any money. They're getting it good just because the bike shop is helping you out.
Karen

Excellent point. I've seen this work several times. Just one letter can instill a bit of fear. Hopefully $500 worth of fear.

[emily_in_nc]

As I may have posted in this thread or in another recently, when I had a cycling accident due to two dogs running out at me, I was able to file a claim with the dog owners' homeowner's insurance co. and have ALL my expenses paid. The fact that our county has a leash law may have made a difference, though. And they did have to cooperate by providing me their HOI information so that I could file a claim. They never offered me to pay out of pocket (my claim was around $4000, so probably out of their price range anyway).

I don't know how much small claims court costs, but if it's a lot less than $500 to file a claim, that's probably what I would do. That was most likely going to be my next move if things hadn't worked out with the insurance co. And yes, a letter from a lawyer can indeed help at times, too.

I feel your pain, though, at having to go past their house every time you ride and worrying what they might do if you do file a claim against them. That really stinks. I might go as far as to consider moving. Very drastic, but so is being stressed out in your own neighborhood every time you ride. Even if they never seek any kind of revenge, it would freak me out just worrying about the chance that they might every time I rode past there.

Good luck - let us know what you do.

Emily

[DDH]

Please don't let them bully you. I know that you still have to ride by their house, but if they are not made to take responsibility and feel they have intimidated you out of their responsiblity then you will still be riding by their house with loose dogs which could cause problems all over again.
Leash law or not they are still responsible for their animals.

You have to make your own decision, but I just hate to see a bully or irresponsible person get away with this kind of stuff. Really ticks me off.

Who does he think he is being upset about where you went or should go to see a doctor. I cannot believe the nerve of people. He should count his lucky stars that you are trying to be resonable with him and not sueing him for everything he has.

I think I would be finding me a lawyer and at least get a consultation.
Keep us updated on what happens though, whatever you decide.

[CyclChyk]

The thing about small claims court brings two things to mind.

1. you have a court battle (albeit small) with your neighbor which would make biking past their house in future rides worrysome.
2. lets say you win. All that means is that you get a judgement against them. It does not mean they pay you. You could not only lose out on the $500 bucks, but the $700 they offered as well. The judgement would only pose a problem to them in the event they wanted to buy another house, refinance, etc. Yeh it will drop their credit rating, but alot of people feel principle is more important. I see it everyday in real estate lending.

I am sure they do not want to file it with their home owners insurance because their rates will sky rocket, plus if they have a $1000 or more deductible, that would only hurt them and not really be of any benefit due to what is already coming out of pocket.

If it were me, I would suggest to them that you split the $500 50/50. That way it shows you are trying to be considerate of their viewpoint and at the same time, protecting yours. This should help keep the air friendly as well. Small claims court is anything but friendly.

[xeney]

I just saw your post on another thread that said the dogs came out and chased you again yesterday. Good grief. I cannot believe that, leash law or no, there is nothing that can be done about these dogs. I would agree with CyclChyk about this:

That way it shows you are trying to be considerate of their viewpoint and at the same time, protecting yours. This should help keep the air friendly as well.

... if you were dealing with normal, sane, responsible people, but it seems pretty clear that you are dealing with crazy people who don't care if their dogs wind up killing someone.

CyclChyk makes good points about the likelihood that you would not actually recover in small claims court, but I do think you need to make a police report EVERY TIME those dogs chase you and knock you off your bike. Most states have laws against keeping a dangerous animal, and those laws are part of the criminal law, not just local leash ordinances. You absolutely should not have to be dealing with this every time you want to ride your bike.

And I hate to say it, but I do not think it is safe for you to ride there. If the dogs are still loose and still chasing you and continuing to menace you after you are off the bike, you may not have suffered the worst injuries you are going to suffer, not by a long shot. This is a very scary and dangerous situation.

[liberty]

You ladies are wonderful. It makes such a big difference knowing you care and sympathize. Non-cyclists/bikers just don't get it, and it frustrates me. All that goes to say that I appreciate your input and concern, and to know you want to be updated encourages my bicycling life. Xeney, since you brought up the other post I will explain what happened yesterday. Forgive me if you don't like how detailed I get, but I am going to use this as documentation should the future need arise...

I was going up the hill by their house and heard the dog barking. I unclipped my right foot, and prepared to get off the bike in case the dog was loose. I truly felt the dog would be tied up if it was outside. NOPE! Here the thing comes, bearing down on me, and I promply stop the bike and unclip the left foot to dismount (most ungracefully, I might add... How come there is no mention of how to unclip the other foot once you are stopped? It is the hardest part!!).

I put the bike between me and the dog, and try to figure out what to do next. This brings me to the next sidenote: if you are supposed to deal with dogs by dismounting, what do you do once you are on foot? Walk away carefully? Ignore the dog until it stops barking? Stand there like a dope?

In my case the dog kept barking up a storm and I stood there like a dope. Tried to walk away, only the thing would flip out and come after me. Several times it tried to get around the bike, but would stop when I moved the bike to keep it between us. I must have stood there for several minutes, until finally the next door neighbor (mother-in-law of owner's dog, plus her dog was Dog #2 of accident) came out. Shoo, she said. Dog ignored her totally. She said she was sorry the accident had happened, I said I was sorry about it too, that now I was having to deal with being scared of dogs. Blah, blah, blah. She saw how the dog flipped out every time I tried to move away. I just couldn't believe this was happening. She gave me permission to squirt the dog with my water bottle. Which I did. It seemed to work that time. Feel free to ask me about it via PM. She said if the dog came after me again I could squirt it. And that I could go. She said I was safe to go now. How is that for a comment???????

You know, I am a pretty optimistic person. Tranquil. Get along with everyone. That type a gal. So I tend to think the best of people. I find myself shocked: that they don't see how lucky they are that I'm not a "sue you for all you're worth girl"; or that they don't have their dog tied up given they admitted in front of a cop that cyclists go up and down their road all the time. Do they not realize it is going to happen again??? I'm not out for revenge or anything. But this is crazy.

Anyway, no more griping. Long story short, I fell yesterday, but it was my own stupidity and the left clipless pedal at fault, not the dogs; they were several miles away by that time. I am hoping to talk a friend into biking that route tomorrow, so that if the dog comes out again I can have an eye witness (outside of their household). Dog does it again tomorrow and I will call animal control. Yep. Now, about the other three dogs further down the road.......

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Geez!!! That's a HORRIBLE situation!!
Honestly, I would NEVER put up with this. Order yourself some dog pepper spray from Ebay (the kind with the flip-top so you can't squirt it at your own self). Test it once quickly (outdoors!) to make sure it works. Then it's good for about 8 more 1 second shots.
Next time the dogs come at you, get off your bike, say "NO!" to them loudly, and calmly squirt them in their faces. They'll likely run off yelping and never ever bother you again. It won't hurt them permanently, but they will not forget it. You may have to do it for each dog. If they are especially dumb you may need to do it twice per dog. If their owners don't like it....too bad.
I'm an animal lover but this is really too much. Loose dogs terrorizing people on public roads?!? You have the RIGHT to travel the public road safely- they DON'T have the right to take that away from you.

[Artisan]

I'm shocked that they still are allowing their dog to run freely. Given how irresponsible they are being it might be in your best interest and the other cyclist in the area for you to take them to court. They are not only putting you in danger but their dog as well.

[xeney]

Yeah, for real. I was thinking this morning of how this would have played out where I grew up, out in the country surrounded by sheep ranchers who did not tolerate off-leash dogs. The next cyclist riding by would have had a handgun and those dogs would be history.

I'm not advocating that! This is just a completely foreign concept to me, people letting dogs run around loose with no repercussions. In the cities you have leash laws, in the rural area where I'm from it just would not have been tolerated. (That is part of why I don't live there anymore.)

[CyclChyk]

I'm thinking Xeney might be onto something here. Apparently these people are just plain NUMB!

I'm thinking police reports might be the best way to go here.

You know its sad, becuase I lovelovelove dogs so much and I would never dream of hurting one, but if one of those dogs end up dead in the road because it was loose and got hit by a car, it would serve them right. What is it going to take to get through to these people???

Yup. File police reports. Because if these people aren't responsible enough to take proper care of their dogs, someone else will when the law ends up taking them away.

[Geonz]

THe other option is what one of our riders does... tosses chunks of PowerBars out for the critters. THey love him.

It so doesn't address the real problem here, though. I would go for the pepper spray *and* police reports.

[cosc]

My experience won't give you much advice, but this is what I did after a dog chased me (seemed like about a mile). He was a mean sounding blue heeler. I kept thinking he was giving up the chase, but in reality was just catching his breath sucking behind my wheel to make a new attack. After the incident I called the owner to restrain her dog before riding. The 4th time I called she was apathetic and asked why I didn't ride the bike path the city spent so much money on. The path only goes 1 mile, and does not even get me passed her house. I quit calling her and the dog has came out for a short chase, but no extended chases. I haven't been riding that way since the road work. There is not many choices for good roads to ride. Looking forward to dogs on the route definitely dampened my enthusiasm to get on my bike. Glad your able to ride again and hope you receive a just reimbursment.

[liberty]

Dampening my enthusiasm is right... I really wanted to ride yesterday. But I just couldn't get up the desire/courage/heart to go. Chances are the dogs will be out again. And I don't feel like fighting every time I ride, you know? If it was just those two dogs at that one corner then it wouldn't be such a big deal (but it would still be a big deal). But three more one way, two more the opposite direction and they are both only 16 mile routes!!!!!!! I might have another way I can go. Need to check it out first. And hopefully it would only be a two dog route. The emotional side of this is more than I figured. Ack.

[emily_in_nc]

Dampening my enthusiasm is right... I really wanted to ride yesterday. But I just couldn't get up the desire/courage/heart to go. Chances are the dogs will be out again. And I don't feel like fighting every time I ride, you know? If it was just those two dogs at that one corner then it wouldn't be such a big deal (but it would still be a big deal). But three more one way, two more the opposite direction and they are both only 16 mile routes!!!!!!! I might have another way I can go. Need to check it out first. And hopefully it would only be a two dog route. The emotional side of this is more than I figured. Ack.

So sorry liberty ~ I know I would be feeling the same as you, which is why I made the semi-serious suggestion to move. Doing so would probably feel like letting "them" win; otoh, it's also taking your life back to remove yourself from an untenable situation. There just have to be better, more bike-friendly places to ride. Other than that, you're pretty much limiting yourself to driving and parking to ride in safer areas. I wouldn't want to ride in your 'hood either!

It's just not right -- and as someone who had her entire life changed by a dog-induced accident (my pelvis will never be 100% the same, I have a large numb spot on my upper right thigh from where they cut nerves to do my surgery, I get achy and tight in that area, get SI joint pain on longer rides, etc) -- I am supremely empathetic to your situation.

(((((((((((((((((( liberty ))))))))))))))))))))))

Have you tried the Air Zound 2 air horn? I've got that on my road bike now. It may not work on all the dogs you encounter, but it will probably work on most of them. A small price to pay for piece of mind; but no matter how "well-armed" you are, with horn, Halt, etc, just knowing that dogs may or probably will come running out at you is enough to take most of the fun out of a ride and/or provide enough motivation not to ride, just like you experienced. Been there.

Keep us posted, okay?

Emily

[liberty]

So I deliberated this morning for several hours on whether I was gonna ride or not. And I made myself go. After all, most times you are afraid of something it turns out to be a non-issue. So I went. Got up to the house, and the owner was outside. Told me to wait a minute because the dog was out. So he went to put the dog away. I asked him if I could call him before I left the house on future rides and then he would know to lock up the dogs. He was great with that. I just hope after this whole thing is over that we are still on speaking terms, as it would be wonderful to think those dogs are over and done with... (We didn't speak at all of finances) Rest of the ride was dogless. Yippee! And you know what, I feel like me again. Not fearful anymore. I'm sure on future rides I'll have to keep confronting this to some degree, but for now I feel invincible and in love with biking again. Did 15 miles of hills and my legs are tired but happy. My lungs did better than I thought. So maybe the body is adjusting quickly! Only quirk today was the stop sign at the top of a hill. Gonna have to practice clipping in and starting uphill from a standstill...