§ 25-21,274.Motor vehicle collision with domestic animal; principles applied.

Nebraska is agricultural country, and livestock sometimes wander onto public roads. Section 25-21,274 sets the ground rules for the lawsuit that can follow when a car collides with a cow, horse, or other domestic animal. Whether the vehicle’s owner, operator, or occupant sues the animal’s owner, or the livestock owner sues over an injured animal, three principles govern the case.

First, the burden of proof stays put. It rests on the plaintiff from the start of the case to the end; it never shifts to the defendant partway through. Second, the fact that livestock escaped its enclosure and ended up on the highway is not, by itself, enough to suggest the owner was careless. A fence can fail, a gate can blow open, or an animal can find a way out without anyone doing anything wrong. Third, the standard of care is ordinary negligence, the same reasonable-person standard used across Nebraska tort law, not a strict or absolute liability standard that would hold an owner responsible regardless of fault.

Together, these three principles mean a driver injured after hitting a cow on the road cannot win by pointing to the collision alone. The driver still has to prove the animal’s owner failed to use reasonable care, the same as in any other negligence case.