Who Is At Fault

[~Anne~]

That's a little different in my mind. An off lead park is a place designated for dogs to play. One would expect to see and find dogs playing in a park.

A parked car is no place to leave kids, any reasonable person would expect the kids not to be left unsupervised in the car.

The op described the area as:

off-leash, unfenced dog park/sports oval.

It was a shared area and not specifically an off leash dog area.

[Steph M]

That's a little different in my mind. An off lead park is a place designated for dogs to play. One would expect to see and find dogs playing in a park.

A parked car is no place to leave kids, any reasonable person would expect the kids not to be left unsupervised in the car.

The op described the area as:

off-leash, unfenced dog park/sports oval.

It was a shared area and not specifically an off leash dog area.

Well the word shared still leads me to assume you'd be sharing it, in this case with dogs. We have a similar area which is off lead, large oval in the centre where kids often kick a footy and a bike path.

Dog walkers are generally aware bikes will be present and know to stay to the left and allow them to pass and the bike riders generally know to look out for dogs as its off lead.

I'm running on the assumption the park in the situation described IS off lead, and if that's the case I think its reasonable to expect there to be dogs.

[~Anne~]

I can understand what you are saying however, to my knowledge, off lead areas do not normally have large signs saying this is what they are. In fact, you generally find out about off lead areas by looking for a list or definition on your local council website.

So a shared area could very well have people walking through it without being aware of regulations about dog control. If it was purely a dog park and not a public sporting field then you could say that anyone within its boundaries should be aware it was an area for dogs.

Still, in having said that, the person in this case knew it was a dog off lead area as they had their own dog didn't they?

[Loving my Oldies]

The concept of personal responsibility does seem to have gone out the window to some extent and, sadly, many legal judgements have supported that. Some years ago, a woman successfully sued because she bumped into some building works while she was talking on her mobile. Can't remember who she sued: builders or council.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Obviously, there were many areas where organisations, councils, people were hugely neglectful of people's safety, but changes in legislation certainly led to an explosion of vexatious complaints and particularly in the USA where payments shooting into the stratosphere are awarded in cases of negligence or otherwise.

Personally, I don't like to see people using head phones while they are walking their dogs or their babies for that matter. I feel they should be paying attention to what they are doing

Of course, they may be listening to an important lecture, or cramming for an exam ........ doubt it though.

[Nekhbet]

And thats why we have people stand against fencing with their backs to the fence when dogs are playing.