Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a special advisory today reminding consumers to exercise caution when riding recreational off-road vehicles (referred to as ROVs in the advisory).

“As side-by-side recreational of-highway vehicles continue to gain in popularity, so does the number of reports to the [CPSC] of injuries and deaths involving these vehicles,” the reminder says, adding that roll cages and seat belts aren’t enough to prevent serious injuries or death from occurring in the event of a rollover or other accident.

“CPSC’s safety message is especially targeted at Yamaha Rhino drivers and passengers,” the advisory states.

The CPSC also took the opportunity to remind Rhino owners of the free safety upgrades and free helmet offer that Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announced on March 31, 2009. The upgrades are offered on all Rhino models (450, 660, and 700) and are intended to reduce the Rhino’s propensity to roll over. Yamaha dealerships are not to sell new Rhinos without upgrading their inventory of vehicles first. Additionally, Rhino owners can get a $100 coupon for a new helmet by going to their dealership and watching a Rhino safety video.

“CPSC believes that in order to provide a safer ride, all Rhinos must have half-doors, additional passenger handholds, spacers on the rear wheels, and the rear anti-sway bar removed. Consumers should immediately stop using Rhino ROVs until the repairs are installed by a dealer,” the advisory states.

“While these repairs will improve the safety of these vehicles, the repairs alone are not enough,” the CPSC announcement added.

To mitigate the risk of a rollover or other accident, the CPSC recommended that Rhino drivers and passengers:

• wear their seat belt properly every time
• strap on their helmet every time
• follow on-product warnings
• never remove the half-doors
• never allow a child younger than 16 to drive
• never allow a child to be a passenger if he/she is unable to place both feet on the floorboard with his/her back against the seat
• only operate off-road—the Rhino is not designed for use on public roads or paved surfaces.

The CPSC also said that as of June 23, 2009, the agency received nearly 60 fatality reports involving Rhinos. “A number of very serious injuries have also been reported, including injuries to the head and neck, and incidents requiring surgical amputation of victims’ arms, legs, and fingers. Many of these cases appear to have involved rollovers at relatively low speeds and on level terrain,” the CPSC said.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under News, Yamaha Rhino Rollover Links. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.