Our book, “The Ultimate Michigan Bite & Animal Attack Handbook,” has great information on the Michigan dog bite laws.  You can request your free copy of the book simply by clicking here.  The books are being requested in great numbers and they are tremendous resource for consumers and dog bite victims.  I have pasted below an excerpt of the book on the Michigan dog bite laws for your review.  If you have any questions about a Michigan dog bite case, just give me a call at (800) 606-1717 or fill out this contact form.

In Michigan, the law recognizes three potential causes of action arising out of a dog attack incident: (1) statutory strict liability; (2) common-law strict liability; (3) and common law negligence (including statutory and ordinance violations).  

Michigan has enacted statutory strict liability under what is commonly referred to as the dog-bite statute. Under this law, if a dog bites a person, without provocation, while the person is on public property, or lawfully on private property, including the property of the owner of the dog, the owner of the dog is be liable for any damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness. This means that if someone is bitten while lawfully on public or private property, the owner of the dog is automatically liable for any injury or damage the dog causes as long as the dog was not provoked. In addition, the law makes clear that people considered lawfully on the private property of the owner includes social guests, friends, family members, contractors, postal employees, utility company workers, newspaper carriers, and others who were invited onto the property for a business or social purpose.

In addition to strict liability under the dog-bite statute, Michigan law recognizes two other potential causes of action arising out of a dog attack incident: common-law strict liability and common law negligence (including statutory and ordinance violations).

A cause of action for common law strict liability attaches for harm done by a dog or domestic animal where three elements are present: (1) one is the owner or possessor of the animal; (2) one knew or should have known of the animal’s abnormal dangerous propensities; and (3) harm results from the dangerous propensity that was known or should have been known.  This means that if someone owns or harbors a vicious dog and a person is harmed as a result of the dog’s vicious behavior, then the owner or keeper of the dog will be liable under common law strict liability.

Next, a cause of action under common law negligence is available without regard to whether the owner, keeper, or possessor had knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensities if that person was negligent in failing to prevent foreseeable harm and that negligence resulted in an injury. This means that the dog or animal owner may be liable if the injury occurred because the dog owner was unreasonably careless in controlling the dog. This can include not putting a leash on the dog, the lack of a proper sign in warning citizens of a vicious dog, and simply not paying attention to the actions of the dog.

Many times, the owner is automatically liable for failing to properly have the dog restrained or on a leash under city ordinances and rules.  This might include in a public park or just somewhere in the neighborhood.  Dog owners are also responsible for attacks in these places.

Some people believe that the one-bite rule is the law in Michigan. This rule means that the owner is not liable or responsible if the dog had never bitten anyone before your incident.  This law does not exist in Michigan and dog owners are not entitled to a free bite.

Due to the success and tremendous readership of our Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, we have started a new legal blog site for Michigan car accident information and legal updates.  The site, appropriately named the “Michigan Car Accident Lawyer Blog” will be frequently updated with great information and news regarding imporant issues for Michigan car accident victims.  Please visit our new site at www.michigancaraccidentlawyerblog.com and send us any comments.

I often receive calls from family members of victims of hit and run accidents.  Occasionally, these involve accident victims in cars who are hit by another car that flees the scene of the accident.  However, on most occasions, these are Michigan car accidents involving pedestrians or bicyclists.  The accident victim is left laying injured on the side of the road and the negligent driver is gone.   The big question is always, “Now what?”

Well, all is not lost.  An injured pedestrian or bicyclist can always receive Michigan No-Fault Insurance Benefits, even if the injured person did not have car insurance.  These are great benefits and include full payment of medical bills for life and lost wages for up to three years.  The trick to this is figuring out which insurance company must pay these benefits and the system for determining that is complex.  Anyone in this predicament shoud give me a call immediately after the accident so that the proper forms can get filed.

Another possible claim is an uninsured motorists claim for the victims personal injuries.  This includes pain and suffering, disability, scarring and disfigurement, and other claims.  In order to make this claim, the injured person must either have their own insurance policy with uninsured motorists coverage or live with a family member who has this coverage.  It can be difficult to read the policy to determine if this coverage is available, so anyone in this situation should contact me while they have the insurance policy in their hand.

I am often contacted by Michigan car accident victims who were injured by drivers who were uninsured at the time of the accident.  The big question is always, “Can I still make a claim for my injuries?”  The answer is, “It depends.”  And the reason it depends is because I need to know whether the injured person, a member of the the household, a family member, or the owner of the car the passenger was riding in had uninsured motorists coverage.

Uninsured and under insured motorist benefits are contractual benefits a person is entitled to if they are involved in a motor vehicle accident where the at fault party is either uninsured or has a minimal insurance policy and is deemed to be under insured.   

Both uninsured and under insured benefits are contract driven, which means that the terms of the insurance contract control the same.  It is always wise to have a personal injury attorney immediately investigate your car accident claims, including the review of your insurance contract.  Some insurance companies, such as Farm Bureau, put a one year contractual provision in their insurance contracts which prevents injured victims from bringing uninsured motorist claims after the one year anniversary of the car accident.  The Michigan Courts have upheld these shortened contractual provisions. 

Under insured motorist claims are similar to uninsured motorist claims except that the at fault party in fact had insurance, but not enough to cover the damages sustained by the injured victim.  For example, many motorists only carry a $20,000.00 insurance policy and if an insured victims damages exceed $20,000.00 then there is a possibility of pursuing an under insured motorist claim with your own insurance carrier.  Most insurance contracts require that the injured victim provide notice to their no-fault insurance carrier and that they obtain permission to settle the claim with the at fault parties insurance company.  Failure to obtain permission to settle the case could result in the insurance contract being voided.  Again, the Michigan Courts have upheld these provisions in the contract.

In both uninsured and under insured motorist claims, the injured victim must establish that they have met the threshold of a serious impairment of a body function in order to pursue their case.  Anyone injured in an accident without insurance should contact me immediately to see if they can file an uninsured motorists claim

I am often called by Postal Workers and mail carriers to represent them in Michigan dog bite cases.  The postal workers are often the victims of severe dog attacks just by their nature of being out and about in neighborhoods on a daily basis.  As a result of the may unleashed and unrestrained dogs in these neighborhoods, their injuries are all too common.

Postal workers have the same rights against the dog owners as everyone else.  They can file civil lawsuits and be compensated for their injuries, which include pain and suffering as well as for scars and disfigurements.  Any postal worker attacked by a dog should immediately report the incident to the local police and take photographs of their injuries both before and after seeking medical attention if at all possible.