Have tried to search the internet for an answer to this, but I am struggling. The history is that I was cycling along when a dog ran into my front wheel and took me off. I hit the ground on my left side and rolled to my left and struck my right knee on the ground as I came to a stop face down. I was using Look Keo 16Nm pedals. I am a very experienced cyclist. I use 20Nm one on track and for time trialling, 12Nm on my wet weather commute bike. Now I have no problems with these pedals whatsoever and have a long history of using Look since the 80s and still us them. I sustained a anterior cruciate ligament tear due to my striking the ground and I have no doubt in my mind that this striking of the ground caused the tear. The dog owners have said I simply came to a stop and being unable to release my feet from the pedals fell over and caused the injury myself. Does anyone have any idea if and test cases or tests themselves can refute the dog owners assertions or corroborate mine. Any help would be gratefully received. Many thanks, Gary Strachan.
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If you are thinking about a legal claim or defence I would concentrate on the question whether the dog was on leash or not. Having used clip pedals in traffic where dogs are allowed off-leash could work against you.– Christian LindigMar 19, 2017 at 20:36
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4I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because is about legal liability rather than cycling.– mattnzMar 19, 2017 at 20:50
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2In the courts, your lawyer will make the argument "if not for the owner allowing for the dog to be off leash and if not for the dog attacking you, you would not have been injured." It's pretty clear cut legally but you will have to pursue it legally.– RoboKarenMar 19, 2017 at 23:48
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To give an example of why this has nothing to do with cycling, consider if you were jogging and a dog barked at you. Surprised, you ran into a sign post and cut your face. You would have a clear tort claim against the dog's owner even though you yourself ran into the sign.– RoboKarenMar 20, 2017 at 0:38
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I think it would be hard to prove this one way or the other. I would look at what @RoboKaren suggests. But, being a reasonably incompetent cyclist who has fallen over a few times due to failure to unclip, I can state that I've never fallen face-down, in such a way that my "top" knee would have struck the ground, and have difficulty imagining that that would happen in a simple failed-to-unclip scenario.– Daniel R HicksMar 20, 2017 at 0:41
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