› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
The Desert Sun of Palm Springs, California reported the death of a 31-year-old man who was killed when the Yamaha Rhino he was driving rolled over. Juan Carlos Camarillo, a resident of Garden Grove, Calif., was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Five others were also injured, including one who was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
Two more lawsuits have been filed against Yamaha Motor Co. for injuries sustained in Rhino rollovers. One lawsuit was filed by a woman on behalf of her son, a minor who was injured in March 2008 when the Rhino he was riding in flipped. The other suit was filed by a man who received serious injuries when the Rhino he was driving rolled over in May 2007. Both plaintiffs are residents of West Virginia.
A class action claim has been filed against Yamaha Motor Co. following the death of a 13-year-old Canadian boy who lost his life when the Rhino he was driving rolled over and crushed him. The class action claim has been issued with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for all Canadians who sustained personal injuries or loss of life while riding in a Rhino ATV.
ACCORDING TO A PRESS RELEASE PUBLISHED ON LIEFF CABRASER YAMAHA RHINO WEBSITE:
Earlier this week we featured J.T. Crow, a 9-year-old boy who died when the Yamaha Rhino he was a passenger in rolled onto its side, throwing him from the ATV and pinning him underneath its unpadded roll cage. Since the accident, which occurred in June 2007, J.T.’s mother, Heidi Crow, embarked on a mission to “help save others from a tragic fate like J.T.’s.”
A California man has filed a complaint against Yamaha Motor Corporation for severe injuries he sustained when his Rhino ATV rolled over. 44-year-old Troy Bithell, a father of four, was riding in the Rhino with his daughter during a family camping trip. The two were driving in a dry lake bed in Johnson Valley when the accident occurred.
There appears to be some debate about classifying vehicles such as the Yamaha Rhino as an Off Road Vehicle (ORV), sometimes also called Off Highway Vehicle (OHV), versus an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV). While ATVs are also classified as ORVs or OHVs, because they are designed to be operated off standard asphalt highway surfaces, not all OHVs can be called ATVs, according to a story recently published in The Northern Times, serving Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada.
Like it or hate it, celebrities these days are watched and imitated. The celebrity tabloid world was buzzing today about a photo snapped of Brad Pitt holding his 2-year-old daughter, Shiloh, on his lap while he was driving a Yamaha Rhino ATV. Star watchers bashed the actor, noting that the Rhino is a powerful and heavy piece of equipment, and that he was placing the child in an unsafe situation.
