Legal Advice

If you pass by his house so often just stop and knock on his door. Call him back and say you'll stop by for your check to save him the stamp.

 

Legal advice on the internet? Too many people willing to give advice, and too few who know what they're talking about. Laws can vary from one state to the next, and often the outcome has less to do with the law or the facts than with who can make the best presentation in court.

I think Paprius has the best idea: Knock on his door.

Now for my totally ignorant legal opinion: If he didn't do anything demonstrably negligent to cause the object to be thrown out by his mower, he might not actually be legally liable. But he promised to pay, so some friendly pestering could be the best plan.

 

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I agree with Daniel: the incident could not have been avoided, and if it had been taken to court, he probably would be be considered "not guilty".

As for his promise to pay, to quote the old saying "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on."

Saying all that, yeah, knock on his door, but don't be surprised if you go home empty-handed.

 

In the future you should have gotten the cash before the repair - that way if he backed out you could have gone thru your insurance and they could have pursued it - that's what you get for trying to be a nice guy.

But as to your question - what to do now - I'd say give him a day or two more for the check to arrive - after that I contact him and let him know that the check is lost - offer to swing by and pick up a replacement. If he continues to give you trouble take him to small claims court though as others have mentioned it may be tough to get money - you have no evidence of him agreeing to pay or even evidence that he caused the damage.

 

No legal advice here, but I'm amazed at the assumption that the guy pushing the lawn mower bears full responsibility. It was a completely unforseen incident, turned into a damaging incident by sheer coincidence. To my mind what would be most fair is splitting the cost of repair 50-50: 50% to the mower guy for being where the rock was at that instant of time, and 50% to the car driver for being where the rock went at that instant of time.

To help see the perspective, what if the rock had ricocheted off the car and struck and injured a passing pedestrian? Who bears what responsibilities and in what proportion in that circumstance? I'd say they all share equally in the calamity at 33% of total damages, property and medical, for all being equally in the wrong place at the wrong time in an event that was not preventable (or reasonably preventable, as no one would consider sweeping the lawn beforehand for small, hidden projectiles a reasonable prerequisite to mowing the lawn).

Here there was no unfortunate pedestrian (thankfully), but both parties are equally hapless attendees to an unavoidable mishap, so the proportion of responsibility would be half each.

I'd bet if you approached the guy asking only for half, you'd have a check the next day, and avoid further distress and hassle that could be worth much more than the amount at stake.

 

There's nothing right about any of your assumptions in this post. Passing by pedestrian? The OP bears no responsibility about third party damage as long as he is driving within the limits of the law. If's and buts were candy and nuts....

Also, the OP does not need to confront the guy on his doorstep. A letter containing the proof of the cost of repair, the alternative estimates and a demand for payment within 7 days is in order, sent by registered mail.

If the OP gets no response, he has two paths. If he feels the need, he has to file a small claims court action. If not, he can just walk away.

Take prompt, precise and polite action. If the responsible party sees a certain resolve, it usually means a positive outcome.:thumb:

 

Something that large wouldn't be hidden in the grass (unless the grass was really tall), and at that length, an entire foot, it sounds like the mower threw one of its blades. That puts the incident more into the realm of the avoidable (not overrunning some obvious large FOD in the grass and/or proper maintenance of the mower), which would put the burden of responsibility onto the mower.

But were the incident truly unavoidable I still stand by my original point.

 

No legal advice from me, either, but lawnmowers should always have a catcher on the grass chute. There should be a metal flap blocking the hole for when the mower is operated in mulch mode. Firing random projectiles at passers-by, be they cars or pedestrians, is totally unacceptable.

 

Maybe the fellow just didn't want to have a confrontation so he said what you wanted to hear. I think he has no intention of reimbursing you. If it were me, I would never have even offered to pay because there is not liability. Take your losses and go on with your life.

 

The question of liability will revolve around whether there was prior knowledge which should have prevented the accident. For example, if a tree in your yard falls during a storm and smashes your neighbor's car, it is considered an "Act of God" if the tree was outwardly healthy and you had no reason to suspect that it was a hazard. In that case your neighbor's insurance comes into play.

On the other hand, if you cut down a tree in your yard and drop it on your neighbor's car, then it is your fault and your insurance comes into the picture.

For a lawn mower projectile, you would have to prove that the lawnmower was defective, improperly used, or that the operator was reckless in his operation. This would be difficult in the case of a simple thrown stone.

Tom

 

I don't see any reason why the guy shouldn't pay. It doesn't matter if the stone can't be foreseen*. The man's actions caused the damage. He is therefore liable. It's that simple. Our 'not my fault' culture is on display in this thread.

*Given the propensity of a non-bagged mower to toss something, I don't think this is really unforeseen. This is exactly why my father taught me to walk the yard before mowing, and another example of how a couple minutes of effort could have saved a lot of money and trouble.

 

If you're out trimming the back forty and happen to spray dog poo all over your shoes, that's your own fault. If you spray it on someone walking by, you'd better be profuse in your apologies and stifle your laughter until they're at least out of earshot. But if you zing a rock at someone and injure them, it's hardly their fault.

 

He has full responsibility. His homeowners didn't say that he was not liable but that his deductible was more than the damage. If you know his homeowners insurance company send them a letter and maybe they will admit he was liable but they won't pay due to his deductible.

Always call the police for a report. never trust anyone, especially someone who you met for the first time. Finally, don't hesitate to go to court.

 

Throwing a rock (or in this case a 12 inch projectile) from a lawn mower is the mower's responsibility. To all those saying it isn't because it's unavoidable or he had no prior knowledge, or it wasn't caused my poor maintenance... think about a parallel:

You're driving down the street. Apply your breaks as you're approaching an intersection... and hit some black ice. You weren't speeding, your car was in perfect condition... but you hit some ice and skidded into the intersection, hitting another car. Who's at fault here? You couldn't see the ice, you had no idea it was there.

But according to the insurance companies and police, you're at fault.

The same goes with a thrown rock. You may not have known it was there, but you still caused the incident by mowing over it, the same as if you had driven your car over some black ice and hit someone.

For the OP: Is there a police report to go along with the incident? Without a police report, all he has to do is deny he was involved when talking with his insurance company, and you're out of luck. With a police report, it wouldn't really matter what he said...

 

I would like to remind everyone that "responsibility" in the normal usage of the word is a very different thing from "legal responsibility" since there is nothing rational or reasonable about the law, and courts are concerned only about legal procedure, not about facts. The outcome of a trial has virtually nothing to do with the facts, and everything to do with the skill and preparation of the lawyers; or in small-claims court, the ability of the adversaries to impress the judge.

 

On many occasions in our area the police have declined to issue blame for just this sort of situation. While it is always the driver's responsibility to maintain control, the police often recognize that weather conditions are freak and unexpected, and therefor beyond the driver's control.

Then again, Michigan is a no-fault state, which is just another way of saying that you are going to pay for it, regardless of fault.

Tom