Minas Gerais court holds highway company liable for fatal animal accident

The 13th Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG) has upheld a ruling holding a highway concessionaire liable for a fatal accident on the BR-262 highway. The incident occurred in May 2023 when a driver, traveling at night through a poorly lit section of the road, was unable to avoid a horse that had wandered onto the track.

The court ordered the company to pay R$ 90,000 in moral damages to the victim's widow, along with a monthly pension equivalent to two-thirds of the victim's income until the age he would have reached 73.

In its defense, the concessionaire argued that it conducts inspections every 90 minutes and that the animal's presence was an unpredictable event caused by the owner. However, the rapporteur, Judge Newton Teixeira Carvalho, ruled that the relationship is a consumer one and the company's liability is objective, meaning they are responsible regardless of proven fault. The court noted that the presence of large animals in rural stretches is a predictable risk that the company must manage to ensure road safety.