30+ deaths attributed to Yamaha Rhino

[atv-853]

Saw this on Fox News today:

Fox News with Link to WSJ (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,447825,00.html)

The Yamaha Rhino, a hit in the off-road-vehicle market, promises to go "almost anywhere" with an "amazingly high level of comfort and ease." Now, federal safety regulators are investigating the vehicle following reports of some 30 deaths involving it, including those of two young girls last month.

The Rhino also has drawn keen interest from the plaintiffs' bar: Yamaha faces more than 200 lawsuits in state and federal courts, many alleging the Rhino's design is unsafe. Yamaha has settled some but recently beefed up its defense and says it may start to fight rather than settle.

Yamaha stands behind the design of the Rhino, a two-seat vehicle that looks a little like a cross between a golf cart and all-terrain vehicle. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said its investigation of this type of vehicle, which it calls a utility terrain vehicle, or UTV, was prompted by various factors, including the number of accident reports and the lawsuits. The Rhino is at the center of its investigation, people familiar with it said.

Yamaha said plaintiffs' lawyers "have seized on safety and product enhancements that Yamaha has made to the Rhino to allege baseless claims about the stability of the vehicles."

Many injury claims, the company said, stem from improper operation, modifications such as removing the protective "roll cage," or failure to use a helmet and seat belt. "If you operate it carefully and use some common sense and good judgment, it's a really great product," said Roy Watson, general manager of legal for Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, a unit of Japan's Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd.

The Rhino matter shows how federal safety regulators sometimes struggle to respond to what they call "emerging hazard" areas. There are no regulatory standards for the new breed of off-road vehicles, the CPSC said.

[Pipeless416]

guns don't kill people, motorcycles don't kill people, atv's don't kill people, and utv's don't kill people. irresponsible people kill people. :rolleyes:

[Pappy]

This is how it started in the 80's, lets just see if the courts can assign the operator as the responsible party and not blame the machine like they did the 250R

[powermadd400ex]

"Many injury claims, the company said, stem from improper operation, modifications such as removing the protective "roll cage," or failure to use a helmet and seat belt. "


whos fault is it they didnt use the helmet or seatbelt properely?whos fault is it they removed the roll cage? definatly not yamahas!

the 2 young girls metioned in the report shouldve been wearing helmets and seatbelts and being supervised by a RESPONSIBLE ADULT.

if they were not doing the following then that isnt yamahas fault. it was the parents fault for letting 2 young irresponsible girls drive a rhino without proper equipment and COMMON SENSE!yamaha has those warning labels on there for a reason!

you shouldnt blame the manufacturer for the parents and operators incompetence to perfrom proper instructions.

[greenblood01]

If operated safely and correctly, things like this should not happen. I went to Yamaha Sales training for Rhino's and Grizzly's last summer and saw several that were driven wrecklessly and flipped over, however no one was injured due to the fact that all operators and passengers wore their seatbelts, along with helmets. I'm not saying farmers should wear helmets while checking their cattle aboard a SXS, however I believe people should take much more precaution and take responsibility for their actions instead of taking it out on Yamaha.

[BuB400]

Originally posted by Pappy
This is how it started in the 80's, lets just see if the courts can assign the operator as the responsible party and not blame the machine like they did the 250R


Is that why they quit making the R?

[Pappy]

Originally posted by BuB400
Is that why they quit making the R?

ATC's in general, not just the atc250r.

[csr250r]

I hate to see this happen hopefully yamaha wins these lawsuits because i bet that most these are operator stupidity, im sorry if you take the roll cage off your utv and are messing around and roll it i blame you for your OWN injury.

[XCRacer236]

i wish it was illegal to sue companies that make off-road vehicles like the rhino's. just like its illegal now to sue a fast food restaurant for making you fat, or burning yourself by spilling coffee on yourself. D*** people are stupid!

[SPDSNYPR]

I hope Yamaha fights it. It will be a bit of money up front, but they will be better off in the long run.

I know of an entity that recently decided to quit settling frivolous lawsuits to make them go away. It has worked out really well for them. They started saying "we won't give you a dime" and to date, have not lost one civil case that was filed.

I wish there was some way to countersue the attorneys who file these sort of things. Go after them personally (since they really are responsible), and maybe they'll think twice before filig such nonsense. But as long as they know they have zero consequences for filing crap, they will continue to do so.

[TWISTED]

When I was at Pleasure Valley for the national, I talked to Paul Turner for a bit... They have a Rhino to use as a pit vehicle, and that Yamaha requires them to wear helmets and seat belts while using it.......

[KXRida]

Originally posted by TWISTED
When I was at Pleasure Valley for the national, I talked to Paul Turner for a bit... They have a Rhino to use as a pit vehicle, and that Yamaha requires them to wear helmets and seat belts while using it.......

What were you up at PVR for?

If you drive a rhino/atv/bike, you should assume full responsibility for what happens, or could potentially happen while operating it.

These law suits are what kills the market. People join in on the lawsuit, the lawyers take a large percentage of the cut, and the rest is divied up to the 100's of cases, so they are expecting a big lawsuit winning but get like $300.

[TWISTED]

For the national this past summer......

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by Pappy
This is how it started in the 80's, lets just see if the courts can assign the operator as the responsible party and not blame the machine like they did the 250R

The Courts never did assign blame to the ATC. The case was settled out of court between the manufacturers and the C.P.S.C. that settlement resulted in the Consent Decree Act of 1988. The voluntary act was in effect for 10yrs until 1998.

This Act resulted in the manufacturers voluntarily withdrawing from producing 3 wheeled ATV's. Some other little known facts about this agreement...

No New High Performance (Sport/Race) quads could be developed during this time frame. Nor could existing models be upgraded other then safety issues. Hence the reason the Blaster, Warrior, and Banshee were never upgraded during this time. Honda bearing the blunt of the blame and Lawsuits decided to pull the TRX 450R. Suzuki and Kawasaki followed Honda's Lead.

Safety items like heel guards were a requirement, and warning "stickers" were to be permanently mounted...ever wonder why they are riveted on? Also performance machines could not be as powerful as there bike counterparts. Ever wonder why CRF's are more powerful then TRX's?

It should also be noted that the C.P.S.C. in there final report concluded that there was NO inherent design flaw in the 3 wheeler and the majority of injuries were the result of operator error. Out of the 2516 reports in the C.P.S.C. case file over 95% are attributed to the operator. the remaining have insufficient data to assign responsibility.

Only Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris, and Arctic Cat agreed to this Act. Any other Manufacturer were/was allowed to produce 3 wheeled ATV's or High performance Quads.

When the act expired in 1998 The agreeing Manufacturers were allowed to produce High performance ATV"s as well as 3wheelers. Due to the misconception of there safety and possible further lawsuits they chose not to produce trikes.

Shortly after the Consent Decree Act expired several manufactures Agreed to a new Act the ATC Safety Act. in this Agreement they would continue to voluntarily not produce 3 wheeled ATV's. Only Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris, and Arctic Cat agreed to this Act.

Two years ago one of the Chinese ATV companies decided to test the market with a entry level 3 wheeler the Extreme 125. they only produced a small amount and only a handful were sold before they voluntarily stopped selling them.

Just this last Aug(?) the C.P.S.C. submitted Bill H.R. 4040 to congress and it passed and was signed into law by President Bush.

HOWEVER!!! this Bill/Law was predominantly about lead paint in children's Toys. However the C.P.S.C. "piggybacked" several ATV laws including the Banning of 3 wheeled ATV's until further test/studies can be done by the industry. while production units are not allowed Prototypes are. it also included several additions to child safety regulations with regards to 4 wheeled ATV's. These were heavily pushed by the manufactures in response to the Chinese manufactures who were not held to the same standards as the Big 5 producing sub-standard child ATV's

[One_Bad_400]

Originally posted by powermadd400ex
"Many injury claims, the company said, stem from improper operation, modifications such as removing the protective "roll cage," or failure to use a helmet and seat belt. "


whos fault is it they didnt use the helmet or seatbelt properely?whos fault is it they removed the roll cage? definatly not yamahas!

the 2 young girls metioned in the report shouldve been wearing helmets and seatbelts and being supervised by a RESPONSIBLE ADULT.

if they were not doing the following then that isnt yamahas fault. it was the parents fault for letting 2 young irresponsible girls drive a rhino without proper equipment and COMMON SENSE!yamaha has those warning labels on there for a reason!

you shouldnt blame the manufacturer for the parents and operators incompetence to perfrom proper instructions.


2 young girls died right down the road from me last month onm on one. they didnt have they're seat belts on and weren't being supervised. they were 11 years old and when they rolled it they flipped out and it crushed both of ther sculls and just flattened there brains. its a sad sad story but things like this can be prevented!

[madskrillz2]

I was wondering how long it would be before I saw a topic like this. I saw a commercial on TV the other day saying "If you've been injured in a yamaha rhino you may be entitled to a large sum of money" or something to that extent.

[hondaracer31]

The root of this problem, and most problems in America today is this....

NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIER OWN ACTIONS!

[coryatver]

Many injury claims, the company said, stem from improper operation, modifications such as removing the protective "roll cage,"

doh