Legal Eaze #65 Snowed In Driveway/Firefighter's Rule

Title: March 14, 2007

Q. I live in one of the private communities around Tehachapi. One thing that really irritates me is that the snow removal truck used by the community where I live always pushes the snow on both sides of the street, creating an enormous mountain of snow directly in front of our driveway. This snow is really packed because it has been dragged several feet by the snow scoop in front of the truck and difficult to shovel away. What is worse is that sometimes we have to park the cars in the street because we are unable to get onto our property, then the cars get buried in the snow. Is there anything we can do to prevent that from happening?

A. Welcome to snow country! Do you realize that your problem is the same problem every family living in areas that get snow in the winter has to face every year? Sometimes, there is so much snow that it must be pushed aside for the greater good. Streets must be rid of snow so that cars can get through. Obviously it would be difficult for city or community workers operating snow ploughs to clean every private driveway and would never be able to complete their task of cleaning the streets. It is more time efficient for each family to be responsible for the clearing of its own patch of driveway rather than impose that duty to the city or community. In this instance, the discomfort of a few does relieve total closure of the community roads.

Q. Last year, I worked for a veterinary clinic in the Antelope Valley. About 4 months ago, I was bit by a pit-bull while trying to clean up its cage. The wound was deep and is still very painful. Can I sue the owner of that dog?

A. No you cannot. There is an exception to dog bite laws called the “firefighter’s rule” which is a specific application of the doctrine of assumption of risk. Under the firefighter’s rule, persons whose work necessarily exposes them to certain types of risks created by third parties may not sue those third parties when those risks are realized and lead to personal injury. The idea is that a firefighter, for example, should not be able to sue for injuries resulting from a fire when fire is the precise danger the firefighter is employed to confront. By the same token, a veterinarian or kennel worker ordinarily cannot sue for animal bites since vets and kennel workers are paid precisely because of their expertise in handling animals and their willingness to be exposed to those risks.

Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880