› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
A 13-year old South Carolina boy died last Sunday when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving rolled over and landed on top of him. According to reports by South Carolina CBS affiliate WBTW, Benjamin “Shane” Byers, a resident of Johnsonville, SC, was rushed to Lake City Hospital but was pronounced dead at 2:53 p.m., approximately one hour after the accident occurred.
The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a recall of about 8,500 Polaris all-terrain vehicles for defects that may pose a crash hazard. According to the CPSC, Polaris Industries of Medina, Minn., has received 19 reports of incidents involving the recalled 2009 and 2010 model-year ATVs.
In December we reported how one Mississippi coroner became an advocate of stricter laws governing the use of all-terrain vehicles in her state after witnessing the injury and death the vehicles can cause. Now, other people in that state are echoing the call for more ATV legislation, including the Sheriff of Warren County, Mississippi and two state lawmakers.
Christmas day may forever be tinged with sadness for the family and friends of 18-year-old Andy Case, a resident of Sidney, Kentucky, who died after losing control of the all-terrain vehicle he was driving.
A Mississippi coroner has become a strong advocate of tougher laws governing the operation of all-terrain vehicles because of the horrific injuries she has seen on the job. Carolyn Gillentine-Green, the Coroner of Lee County, Mississippi, told Jackson’s Clarion-Ledger that she supported any measures that would improve ATV safety in her state. “I’m a proponent for anything to make it safer,” Gillentine-Green told the paper.
All of the lawsuits involving the Yamaha Rhino that were filed in federal court have been brought together for pretrial litigation under U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman in the Western District of Kentucky. Judge Coffman will preside over five trials scheduled to open between October 2010 and January 2011.
The San Diego Padres confirmed last week that Donovan Tate, the team’s number one draft pick (and the third pick overall in the Major League Baseball draft) was seriously injured in an all-terrain vehicle crash near his home in Georgia.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and BRP U.S. Inc. of Sturtevant, Wisconsin announced a recall of approximately 2,400 Can-Am all-terrain vehicles. According to the CPSC, the dynamic power steering (DPS) can fail on the model year 2010 vehicles, resulting in the sudden loss of steering control, which exposes drivers to a significant risk of injury and death.
A 6-year-old Oklahoma boy died Wednesday evening when he lost control of the all-terrain vehicle he was driving, sending the ATV into a deadly rollover. Reports from throughout the state say that the young victim, Daniel Brock Smith-Maynard of Sand Springs, Okla. was driving the ATV on a homemade dirt track on his grandfather’s property in Tulsa when the accident occurred.
A 14-year-old boy from Mississippi was killed Saturday in Laurel Hill, Florida, while practicing at a track for a series of all-terrain-vehicle races. The teen was identified as Christian Pierce from Sauceier, Miss.
