YAMAHA RHINO DEFECTIVE DESIGN

By Jane Mundy

In 2006, The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) reported about 500 deaths due to all-terrain vehicles (ATV's) such as the Yamaha Rhino and 20 percent of those were children. In the same year, a staggering 146,600 people were hospitalized due to ATV accidents. Due to the Yamaha Rhino’s design, it is allegedly the most dangerous of all ATVs on the road today.

Still, the manufacturer has not issued a recall, even after acknowledging countless complaints and hundreds of injuries due to Rhino rollovers. Nor has it given refunds to customers who have complained about its defective design.

In 2006, Yamaha Rhino ATV issued its customers safety warnings regarding seat belt and helmet precautions. In its warning, the company also advised that turning too fast increased the risk of tipping the ATVs over and offered direction should your ATV roll over.

The company advised passengers to use seatbelts and to keep their arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. But sticking a leg or arm out of an ATV in a rollover is human nature; the company did not take into consideration that a defect in their design caused passengers to respond in this manner.

In another warning, this time in September, 2007 Yamaha offered free modifications to make its vehicles safer, this time in response to hundreds of rollover accidents that injured, and even killed—drivers and/or passengers of the Rhino. It offered all 2004 to 2007 Yamaha Rhino owners doors and new passenger handholds to prevent riders from sticking out their arms and legs during rollover accidents.

ATVs are notorious for causing rollover accidents but the Yamaha Rhino is the worst due to its design. The Rhino was built to be quicker and smaller than other ATVs but in so doing (and according to ATV critics and safety advocates) the vehicle has a very high center of gravity, hence more rollovers. As well, Yamaha allegedly did not take into consideration any of the safety precautions that would compliment a vehicle with a high center of gravity.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a Yamaha Rhino you should consult an experienced attorney as soon as possible; any accident resulting in personal injury should be dealt with sooner than later and a statute of limitations may apply.

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