The owner of a stray animal is not necessarily fully responsible for the road accident that it could cause, according to a ruling from the Court of Cassation.
The question concerned the responsibility of an owner of horses which had escaped from their meadow and had been hit by four cars on the road. The owner must have committed a fault to be held liable, the Court of Cassation ruled.
One of the injured passengers turned to the car’s insurer since it was involved in the accident, which is enough according to the law for its insurer to be required to compensate the victims. But this insurer had turned against the owner of the quids. The driver, who was not driving too fast, having not committed any fault, maintained this insurer, so it is up to the owner of the horses to assume all of the compensation.
His fault must be the exclusive origin of the accident
Those co-responsible for damage share the compensation in proportion to their respective faults, the judges replied, and if no one has committed a fault, they each contribute equally. For the horse owner to assume full compensation, as requested by this insurer, his fault must be the exclusive cause of the accident.
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It is therefore not enough that an event has occurred, such as the wandering of the horses, but that a fault must have been committed. As this was not the case, the solution therefore remained sharing between stakeholders, equality.
(Cass. Civ 2, 21.3.2024, K 22-19.302).
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