Please tell me how to sue the Post Office for murdering my dog
Cat Graham
what legal grounds I may have to sue the Post Office.
October 5 1999 at aproximately 3PM the postman delivering our mail hit
and ran over my dog at the end of my driveway. The blood, bones and skid
marks are evidence of how fast he was travelling. This postman is
severely hearing impaired and did not hear my dog bark. The officer who
came to the scene from the Oyster Bay Cove police took the report and
had the mailman write down what had occured as he was unintellible in
his speech. The postman was travelling at a rate of speed unacceptable
on a private
road with children and dogs. I called this morning and talked to a
delivery supervisor at the Oyster Bay Post Office who claims he is only
there
once a week and he said the this postman has every right to drive though
he is completely deaf, and cannot speak, and he will not be taken off my
route.I contacted the DMV. The DMV said a deaf individual can have a
drivers liscence, provided he operate this vehicle with a special wide
view rear view mirror and has hearing aids on, even if profoundly deaf.
He had neither. There are no restrictions on his liscence. I told him
that I have corrective lenses and that I have a
restricted liscence, how can he not be restricted where he is so deaf he
could not hear an ambulence siren, a police siren or my baby dog
barking, my precious Bonnie who he killed. What if it had been a child,
God forbid?
Would he be taken off the route then? As it is, we don't even get our
mail typically until 6 PM, well after normal business hours. Finally
when the Postmaster called
she quoted NYS leasch laws, offered a cursory appology and said there
was nothing more she would do. My dog was at the end of my driveway, on
private property.
I know; I picked up her crushed and broken body to take her to the vet.
I had pictures taken of the gruesome scene of the accident.
The postmaster of Oyster Bay and Paul Lapane, her supervisor, were
thoroughly unhelpful, and insenstive to what this event has done to our
family. They did not offer to pay for the vet bill, to come by and
appologise in person or explain to my children how such a horrible thing
could happen. They stick by each other, despite the fact that my
precious baby dog was murdered on my driveway. What about my kids? What
about them? Do I keep them inside? Do I tell them not to play on the
driveway? And how can you not offer any sympathy? I have just buried
my faithful companion of six and a half years, who suffered a cruel,
painful and untimely death. This dog was our life, and I cannot believe
that they can get away with murder.
Something needs to be done, the post office must be held accountable.
Bobo
>This is a serious case that has devastated my family. Please tell me
>what legal grounds I may have to sue the Post Office.
>
>October 5 1999 at aproximately 3PM the postman delivering our mail hit
>and ran over my dog at the end of my driveway.
IANAL, so fair warning.
The quoting of the leash law to you seems inappropriate to me since the dog
was on your property. I don't think the leash law applies unless the dog is
off your property somewhere.
But, I realize this is hard since you have suffered a loss, but sometimes,
animals (and even people) do unpredictable things, like darting out in front
of moving traffic. It sucks, but in some instances, you really can't blame
the person driving. To claim that a deaf person is any more likely than
anyone else to hit an animal in those circumstances shows that you're not
clearly thinking that through. I'm sorry.
I don't know what else you could do, but perhaps you could do your own
analysis of the skidmarks and calculate just how fast he was probably going.
If you could at least show that the driver was exceeding the speed limit, this
could persuade the post office to at least apologize, if nothing else.
To calculate the speed of a vehicle just prior to braking, you'll need several
things, like the dynamic coefficient of friction between the tires and the
road as well as the length of the skid. With those 2 things, you can
determine lots of things like how long the braking occured and how fast he was
travelling just prior.
You can probably dig around and find tables showing friction coefficients for
different materials, maybe on the internet or at your library. Certainly, if
it's that important, you could get a professional to do it since police do
such crash investigations all the time and have just such tables.
It really sucks to lose a loved pet this way. Not too long ago, I had to
literally scrape a neighbor's dead cat off the road. At least in your case,
the responsible driver stopped. In my case, the driver didn't even so much as
hit the brakes. So, you could devote a lot of time and energy to something
that may prove futile (i.e. the mailman might have actually been going the
speed limit, or under) or you could just go through your grieving process and
be done with it.
McGyver
negligence. Sue the postal service and the carrier. The
liability of the service is twofold. First, the employer is
responsible for the acts of employees acting within the scope of
their employment. Second, the service was negligent in hiring
and supervising. Allowing the carrier to violate the law by
driving without the special mirror and hearing aid is negligence.
McGyver
http://www.DavidPhipps.com
Brett Weiss
from the loss of a pet, only the monetary value of the animal. You should
speak with a local attorney experienced in personal injury issues to see if
your state may offer some recourse.
--
Brett
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The Small Print: This response is for discussion purposes only. It isn't
meant to be legal advice and you shouldn't treat it as such. If you want
legal advice, speak with a local lawyer familiar with your state's laws who
can review *all* of the facts and the law applicable to your situation.
*****************************************************************
Cat Graham <ca...@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:37FC9EB2...@sprynet.com...
> This is a serious case that has devastated my family. Please tell me
> what legal grounds I may have to sue the Post Office.
>
> October 5 1999 at aproximately 3PM the postman delivering our mail hit
bob rekieta
Alex
Ms. Graham wrote:
>>The police said he would have to have been going at least 40 miles
>>an hour...The limit on this street is 25
Since the mailman was still on the driveway when the accident occurred,
isn't the speed limit on the street irrelevant? Or is there some kind of
legal precedent which states that the speed limit on the street *also*
applies to driveways that are on private property adjacent to the street?
I'm not a lawyer -- just curious.
By the way, I'm quite sorry about your loss, Ms. Graham. I've had several
cats killed in a similar fashion, though the drivers didn't stop.
Sincerely yours,
Alex Chernavsky
Bobo
>Also,
>Please explain
>"IANAL, so fair warning."
Whoops...internet short hand gone amuck I'm afraid.
I Am Not A Lawyer. IANAL. Kind of like going to news.admin.xxx.abuse groups,
and seeing TINLC everywhere (There Is No Lumber Cartel). :-) Unless you read
the group a lot, you won't understand what that means.
Peter Amschel
compromise all their cases and never take a case all the way to
trial. The best way to get a good lawyer is to check around with
your friends as to lawyer reputations.
In article <wanL3.7884$eM4.5...@typ11.nn.bcandid.com>, darlla-
dar...@hotmail.com says...
> just look in the phone book under attorney: personal injury.... but the most
> tenacious of these usually have full page/full color adds on the back cover,
> so just look there first ;)
>
> Cat Graham wrote in message <37FDFCAB...@sprynet.com>...
Brett Weiss
--
Brett
Peter Amschel <amsc...@pe.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.126812932...@news.pe.net...
Peter Amschel
In article <7tm19t$d1o$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net>, law...@erols.com
says...
darlla
tenacious of these usually have full page/full color adds on the back cover,
so just look there first ;)
Cat Graham wrote in message <37FDFCAB...@sprynet.com>...
Brett Weiss
--
Brett
Peter Amschel
http://www.jewwatch.com/index.html
The bible says that there is no such thing as a jew because a jew
is identified by its descent from Jacob (Genesis 35:9-11) and all
geneology records were ruined when the Romans destroyed the
temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. The bible says that those who
now say they are jews are lying and the are instead identifying
themselves as a part of a synagogue of satan. Rev. 3:9
Do you identify yourself as a jew, "Brett Weiss"?
In article <7tmhvb$arq$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net>, law...@erols.com
Brett Weiss
--
Brett
J. Kubica
Personally, I'm on the side of
world harmony, peace, love &
respect for my fellow beings.
Joseph in Houston
Peter Amschel wrote in message ...
J. Kubica
And may peace be upon you
for all the days of your life.
Joseph in Houston
Brett Weiss wrote in message <7tnof1$eqc$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net>...