driver avoids killing dog and is fined for it

[melanie]

what is the world coming to-
a local girl in my town was driving in the wee hours of the morning on a back road which are often like goat tracks and quite fast, a dog darted out onto the road, she breaked hard to avoid the dog, her car skidded and she flipped it. the car was totalled.
well shockingly enough the girl is being charged for neglegent driving, they say she was going around a corner too fast and if she hadnt been the car would not have flipped. so i am just a little confused, the dog was never hurt, she near killed herself to save it and the dogs owner is not getting charged for letting his dog roam the bush at night and this poor girl is the one being charged and fined,i woudl have done the same thing.
i guess if she had just killed the dog she would have saved herself alot of trouble, boy i justdont get it and think it is such a stupid law. in oz if you are in any accident even if you were totally not to blame you get done for neg driving, simple. just silly. poor girl. lucky dog

[Luba]

Oh boy!!

Did they find the owner of the dog?

[melanie]

yes the dog belonged to the farm directly opposite the accident, the dog just wandered out of the paddock and onto the road, but the owner was not fined, i imagine it is because the police hold her responsible for the accident due to her speed on the corner (which may have been over the reccomended corner speed, sign posted but not over the legal speed limit), so the owner is not at fault . the dog is supposed to be the farmers property. i have already sent a letter to the local paper to express my disgust, i just cant believe it, so unfair. so basically they let the farmer get away with it, and the girl gets done, and i bet the farmer never said thank you either but she was 17 years old and a provisional plater (licencing system, she was into 2nd year of driving), the cops would have had a feild day with her and worst of all she will lose her licence as p platers are very restricted.grrrr