In November, the Commercial Court in Zagreb ruled that the City of Zagreb must pay €454.97 in damages and €648.67 in litigation costs to the owners of a fully insured car whose parked vehicle was damaged by a roe deer that fell from a building’s roof onto it. The accident occurred on March 24, 2018, in Zagreb’s Ulica Ivana Kukuljevića opposite house number five, where the car was properly parked in a designated area with an assigned fee. When the owner arrived at their vehicle, they found police officers investigating the fall of wild game from the roof onto the car. Unfortunately, the doe died instantly, and the incident was reported to the police by an unknown person.
The plaintiff alleges that their insured car suffered damage to property owned by the defendant due to a dangerous event involving wild game that should have been taken care of and placed within its territory. The court ruled that while there is no dispute over the amount or occurrence of this harmful event itself, responsibility for it cannot be attributed to force majeure or an unforeseeable cause. Instead, it is considered a culpable act because of the City’s failure to implement proper protection measures for wildlife within its jurisdiction.
The City of Zagreb claims that they were not responsible for this incident as it was an unforeseeable cause beyond their control. However, this argument is not supported by evidence that shows they took all necessary steps within their legal and economic authority to protect wildlife and ensure adequate protection for citizens against potential harm caused by wild game migration towards urban areas. Additionally, there are several laws and regulations governing wildlife protection and conservation in Croatia, which require local authorities to take action against such incidents if they occur within their jurisdictions.
Overall, while there may have been some level of unpredictability involved in this incident, it ultimately falls under the responsibility of local authorities like those in Zagreb to implement proper measures for protecting wildlife and ensuring public safety within their areas. As such, Euroherc insurance has been awarded damages for losses sustained due to this incident caused by negligence on behalf of city officials.