The CPSC and GAO define ATVs as “off-road motorized vehicles, usually with four tires, a straddle seat for the operator, and handlebars for steering control.” The ATV category does not include side-by-side vehicles such as the Yamaha Rhino and Polaris Ranger, which the government now classifies separately as recreational off-highway vehicles.

GAO says that ATVS have increased in popularity during the last decade and have become a concern to the CPSC and various safety and consumer groups because of their propensity to roll over. Of particular concern is the matter of children who are injured or killed while driving adult-size ATVs or riding as passengers on an ATV that experiences a rollover or crash.

Last October, the CPSC announced it had voted to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to address safety hazards associated with off-highway vehicles and ATVs. According to the CPSC, “preliminary evaluations indicated that the vehicles may exhibit inadequate lateral stability, undesirable steering characteristics, and inadequate occupant protection during a rollover crash.”

The GAO report will likely influence what new regulations, if any, the CPSC adopts to govern the use of ATVs in the U.S.

GAO analysis found that “injuries and fatalities increased substantially during the last decade, but not as rapidly as the number of ATVs in use, which nearly tripled. According to Commission staff, an estimated 816 fatalities occurred in 2007, the agency’s most recent annual estimate, compared with 534 in 1999, a 53 percent increase.”

GAO says an estimated 134,900 people were treated in emergency rooms for ATV-related injuries in 2008 – a 65 percent increase over the 81,800 people treated in 1999 for injuries resulting from ATV use. Approximately one-fifth of ATV-related deaths and about one-third of the injuries involved children.

No federal regulations exist governing the use of adult-size ATVs by children. GAO says that accidents involving children frequently occur when children are allowed to ride ATVs that are too large and too difficult for them to handle.

Despite the fact that ATVs can weigh about 600 pounds or more and travel at speeds up to 70 mph, many adults allow children to drive or ride them for recreation. As a result, the U.S. is seeing a continued rise in ATV-related injuries and deaths in children.

“Manufacturers and distributors have agreed to use their best efforts to prevent their dealers from selling adult-sized ATVs for use by children, but recent GAO undercover checks of selected dealers in four states indicated that 7 of 10 were willing to sell an adult-sized ATV for use by children.”

CPSC estimates that costs associated with ATV fatalities and injuries more than doubled in less than a decade, soaring from $10.7 billion in 1999 to $22.3 billion in 2007.

To download a version of the GAO’s full report, go here.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Government Accountability Office releases ATV report

According to Troy Police, Dacin was out riding ATVs with her flight instructor Saturday night when she hit a cement pad just before 1 a.m., causing the rollover. Dacin was ejected from the vehicle and hit her head. The ATV then landed on top of her.

Dacin was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where doctors pronounced her dead just before 2 a.m. The Oakland County Meidcal Examiner’s Office said the official cause of death was head trauma. Dacin was not wearing a helmet when the accident occurred.

Dacin’s friend, Tracy Freeland, who graduated from Utica High School with her in 2006, said that Dacin liked to ride motorcycles and had considered joining the Air Force.

“She was a wild child. She just wanted to laugh and have fun,” Freeland told the Free Press. “She wanted to fly.”

Police are currently investigating whether alcohol played a factor in the ATV crash.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 816 ATV-related fatalities occurred in 2007, the agency’s most recent annual estimate. The federal government does not include side-by-side vehicles such as the Yamaha Rhino and certain Polaris models in its ATV estimates, so the fatalities linked to all off-road vehicles would be much higher.

The Free Press report says that Dacin was driving a quad, which the driver straddles – an ATV according to government classification.

The CPSC has reported a 53 percent increase in the number of ATV deaths from 1999 to 2007. The agency also estimates that about 135,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for injuries caused by an ATV crash, compared with 81,800 in 1999 – a 65 percent increase. One-fifth of all ATV deaths involved children.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV rollover kills 22-year-old student pilot

The boy’s parents told authorities they did not know the boy had taken the ATV and that they began to search for him “within several minutes.” They found the boy just after 7 p.m. trapped in the water underneath the overturned vehicle. The parents administered CPR until emergency medical help arrived.

Maryland’s Office of the Chief medical Examiner has ruled the boy’s death to be an accidental drowning.

Authorities say the boy was found wearing a helmet. According to the parents, he was allowed to ride the Polaris ATV, but they told authorities the ATVs had been put away for the night.

The investigation remains open, though Police have stated that it appears no laws were broken.

Maryland law prohibits children under 12 years to operate ATVs on public land, but there are no restrictions for ATV use on private property in the state.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has evaluated the safety standards for ATVs as established by the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association and found that they do not “adequately address the deaths and injuries associated with ROV rollovers and collisions.” Inadequate lateral stability, undesirable steering characteristics, and insufficient occupant protection during rollover crashes are some of the characteristics that make the vehicles so dangerous, the CPSC says.

In a statement last October about the dangers of ATVs, Inez Tenenbaum urged parents to keep their children off of ATVs.

“I urge all riders and passengers to strap on a helmet, use the seat belt, know the terrain, and never allow anyone under 16 to drive these vehicles,” Tenenbaum said.

Polaris touts its line of child-oriented vehicles with the tagline: TOUGH ATVs FOR TOUGH KIDS

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Maryland boy drowns after ATV rollover

According to authorities, 18-year-old Taykra Murphy was driving an Arctic Cat Prowler with three children on board, ranging in age from 3 to 11 . Jones County Sheriff Alex Hodge said that Murphy lost control of the vehicle just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The ATV flipped onto its side and ejected the three children. According to witnesses, the occupants of the ATV were seen wearing helmets prior to the accident.

Two trucks from the Hebron Volunteer Fire & Rescue were dispatched to the scene of the accident after a 911 call was made. Also responding were two deputies and an investigator from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department; Nancy Barnett, an investigator from the Jones County District Attorney’s Office, and two ambulances.

A 3-year-old boy was found dead at the scene. Investigators believe he was killed immediately in the rollover. The other children received minor injuries and were treated on the scene.

“It is truly disheartening when accidents such as this occur,” Sheriff Hodge said. “We extend our prayers and condolences to the family of the 3-year-old and all those involved in this accident.”

Mississippi continues to rank highest among states for its number of ATV injuries and fatalities. The state’s numerous farms and enormous swaths of rural terrain make off-road vehicles extremely popular modes of transportation for both work and pleasure. Yet Mississippi lawmakers have resisted passing laws that would govern the use of ATVs, despite the concerns of safety experts and others who have seen first-hand the horrific injuries a simple ATV rollover can cause.

Because of the ATV’s popularity and the lack of state laws, ATV-related deaths and injuries are three times higher than they are in just about every other part of the country.

According to state numbers, 29 people were killed and 1,500 seriously injured in ATV accidents in Mississippi last year alone.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV rollover claims another child’s life in Mississippi

However, CFA’s director for product safety, Rachel Weintraub, suggested that the CPSC data was misleading and that ATVs remain a serious threat to U.S. consumers, and particularly to children.

“ATVs are still causing hundreds of deaths and well over a hundred thousand injuries a year, which makes them one of the most dangerous products that CPSC oversees,” Weintraub said.

CPSC records show that at least 74 children were killed and 37,000 seriously injured in ATV rollovers and other accidents in 2008. These figures, however, do not include the number of children who were killed in Yamaha Rhinos and similar side-by-side vehicles, which the CPSC now classifies separately as recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs).

The CPSC removed reported incidents involving ATV deaths and injuries from the ATV incident reports, which are tracked in another database and will be reported separately.

Therefore, although it appears that ATV deaths and injuries are declining for children in the U.S., evidence strongly suggests a change in the CPSC’s record keeping methods is the cause of the apparent decline.

The CPSC considers an ATV to be an off-road, motorized vehicle having three or four low pressure tires, a straddle seat for the driver, and handlebars for steering control.

Off-road motor vehicles having steering wheels and either bench or bucket seats, such as golf carts, dune buggies, recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs), and certain types of utility vehicles are not categorized as ATVs by the CPSC.

The CPSC’s classification changes are bound to cause some confusion, as vehicles such as the Yamaha Rhino are now categorized with golf carts instead of with other off-road vehicles such as the Yamaha Grizzly, which the manufacturer officially calls the Grizzly ATV. Already a number of web sites are picking up stories on the decrease in ATV death rates because of the switch.

Despite changes to their name or classification – ATVs, ROVs, UTVs, ORVs, side by sides, or four wheelers — the risks associated with these vehicles remain the same.

“ATVs continue to represent a significant risk of injury and death for children,” chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics, H. Garry Gardner, MD FAAP, told the CFA, adding that “Children under the age of 16 should not operate or ride ATVs.”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › CPSC data shows false decline in ATV deaths and injuries

An all-terrain vehicle crash claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl from the Chinquapin community in Duplin County, North Carolina last weekend. According to NBC affiliate WITN in Washington, North Carolina, the girl was identified as Raven Kennedy, a student at East Duplin High School.

Authorities investigating the accident said Kennedy was driving the ATV on private property when it rolled over after Kennedy attempted to turn onto a dirt road. Her passenger, 20-year-old Michael Pickett, was taken to Duplin General Hospital, where he was treated and released.

In South Carolina, a 13-year-old boy died when he was riding his ATV with friends. According to Florence County Coroner Bubba Matthews, the boy, who was identified as Benjamin Byers, lost control of the ATV and was crushed when the vehicle rolled over on top of him. Byers was rushed to Lake City Hospital where he was pronounced dead just before 3 p.m. on January 11.

Near White City, Oregon, three two teenage girls were treated for injuries at a local hospital when the ATV they and another friend, also a teenage girl, flipped. Reports say that the ATV’s driver lost control of the vehicle just as she attempted to cross Highway 140 in southern Oregon just outside White City.

One of the girls of the girls was ejected when the vehicle rolled over. The other girls were trapped under the vehicle after it rolled over multiple times. All three girls survived the crash.

In Nova Scotia, Canada, a teenager died when he was ejected from the vehicle after hitting some rocks in the road. 18-year-old Alexander MacPhee of Nine Mile River was riding his ATV with two friends when the accident occurred. Halifax Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that MacPhee was wearing a helmet but that it had come off when he the rock. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In an effort to reduce the incidence of injury and death caused by ATV accidents, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced last October that it voted to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to address safety hazards associated with ATVs.

According to the CPSC, the agency’s preliminary evaluations found that ATVs may exhibit inadequate lateral stability, undesirable steering characteristics, and inadequate occupant protection during a rollover crash.

“The need for federal rulemaking on ROVs (recreational offroad vehicles) is the consequence of not having a voluntary standard that effectively safeguards consumers, said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum in a statement, adding that she believed her agency could play a vital role in making ATVs safer.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV accidents turned January into a tragic month for many teenagers

In Jackson County, Alabama, where at least one person was killed in an ATV accident last year, representatives of the Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management Agency, the Scottsboro Fire Department, AirEvac, and other emergency services are in the planning stages of developing community education and training courses for ATV safety.

“ATV safety is very needed in our county,” Michael Sims, coordinator for the Jackson County Extension Office, told Jackson County’s Daily Sentinel. According to the Sentinel, Sims said that more adults and children need to be wearing helmets while riding and often they have too many have passengers riding on the vehicles.

In Pittsylvania County, Virginia, two Pittsylvania County volunteer fire departments are hosting an ATV Safety Awareness event this weekend to “provide tips on minimizing the dangers of riding an ATV,” the Danville News reports.

Proceeds from the event, which includes a yard sale and bake sale, will benefit the family of a local teen who was killed in an ATV accident in October. The money raised will help cover medical expenses and scholarships.

Tragically, in Pittsylvania County just last Friday, a 2-year-old boy fell off an ATV that his mother was driving and died. The mother and the boy’s sister were also injured when the ATV crashed. The tragedy occurred after the fire departments planned the Pittsylvania County awareness event. The timing of the incident underscores the need for more ATV safety events.

Regardless of the safety measures a driver takes, all-terrain vehicles are by their very nature dangerous vehicles that can maim or kill even the most experienced drivers and their passengers. When drivers disregard or don’t know the laws governing ATV operation (if their state has rules), or if they fail to take the most basic safety precautions, a fairly dangerous machine becomes a very deadly one.

Some ATVs, such as the Yamaha Rhino, contain design flaws that make them unreasonably dangerous. Yamaha designed the Rhino to fit in the bed of a standard pick-up truck, giving it a narrow stance that makes the vehicle prone to roll over, even when it is driven on a flat surface and at a low rate of speed. The Rhino’s propensity to roll over, combined with a lack of safety features that adequately protect passengers, has caused hundreds of serious injuries and dozens of deaths across the U.S.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Communities offer ATV safety events to mitigate off-roading dangers

Florence County coroner Bubba Matthews told WBTW that the boy likely lost control of the ATV while riding with friends. Byers was an active and athletic child who loved fishing, hunting, and playing ball. Most of all, he loved racing.

The boy’s mother, Tamara Johnson, described her son as “an awesome athlete.”

“He played county sports and school sports. He raced all over the United States. He was just an awesome kid,” Johnson told WBTW.

“He was my baby boy, my baby boy with the big smile. Everybody he met, he left an impression on,” she said.

Byers was featured on the news last month when he competed against the station’s news director in a go-kart race and won.

The boy’s death dealt a painful blow to the family, friends, school, and community that he left behind. Those who knew and loved Byers mourned his passing during funeral services held Wednesday after classes ended at Johnsonville Middle School, where he attended.

Byers’ family established a scholarship fund to preserve the boy’s memory in his community and to help others. All donations, which can be made to any Anderson Brothers Bank, will benefit a student athlete at Johnsonville Middle School.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV rollover kills 13-year-old South Carolina boy

In July 2008, Gillentine-Green pronounced the deaths of 20-year-old Crystal Hooper and her 5-year-old cousin Natalie Aguilar after the ATV they were on crashed. According to available reports, Hooper lost control of the ATV and ran into a trailer full of building supplies. Both Hooper and Aguilar sustained head injuries in the accident.

Mississippi remains one of the few states with almost no laws pertaining to the use of ATVs. As a result, the number of ATV-related injuries and deaths in Mississippi is three times higher than in most other parts of the country.

ATV deaths have been creeping upward in the state since 1981, but the numbers suddenly spiked in 2005. From then until 2007, the last statistically current year in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s data, 65 ATV-related deaths occurred, representing more than 25 percent of all the state’s ATV-related deaths since 1981.

According to state numbers, 29 people were killed and 1,500 seriously injured in ATV accidents in Mississippi last year alone.

A bill that would have encouraged ATV safety died in Mississippi’s last legislative session, but Republican State Representative Dannie Reed plans to reintroduce a similar bill in the upcoming session. The legislation would require all ATV drivers to wear helmets while driving on public land. Drivers also would have to meet the minimum age requirement for the vehicle and the number of passengers would be restricted. Ignoring the safety laws would cost $100 per violation.

“Mississippi has lost more people on ATVs than the state has lost soldiers to the Iraq war,” Reed told the Clarion-Ledger.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Mississippi coroner supports legislation governing ATV safety

The boy lost control of the ATV, which the report described as an adult-size machine with a 660-cubic-centimeter engine. He was reportedly thrown from the vehicle and the ATV rolled on top of him, lacerating his legs. Emergency workers rushed the boy to Petrolia Hospital. He was later transferred to London Health Sciences Hospital, where he was underwent surgery for his injuries.

The injured boy was accompanied by another 11-year-old boy who was riding a dirt bike when the accident occurred. Both boys were wearing helmets. The boy on the dirt bike was not injured, according to the report.

The accident came just two weeks after another Ontario boy was killed in an ATV accident just a few miles away in Lambton Shores. In that incident, 7-year-old Kaedon Brown died when the ATV he was riding rolled over onto him.

Although some restrictions governing ATV use by children already exist in Ontario, the OMA says the present laws are inadequate. The association advises that no children under 14 years old should be permitted to drive an ATV of any size within Ontario.

Children 14 to 16, the OMA proposes, should be allowed to drive only low power ATVs incapable of exceeding 30 km/hour. The OMA says the rules should apply to ATV use on both public land and private property throughout Ontario.

Alluding to advertising tactics that portray off-roading as a safe and acceptable form of recreation for children, the association also asks “that the ATV manufacturers respond to medical community concerns and voluntarily discontinue their marketing to children without waiting for legislative restrictions …”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Ontario boy severely injured in ATV rollover

“As physicians, we are seeing far too many children with serious injuries caused by the use of ATVs,” said OMA president Dr. Suzanne Strasberg in a statement. “Ontario’s doctors firmly believe that there is nothing more important than protecting the health and safety of children in the province.”

Statistics show that in Ontario, like in other parts of the world where ATVs are popular, children ages 5 to 19 account for one-third of ATV injuries and fatalities. From 2005 to 2006, 5,584 Ontarians went to the emergency room with ATV related injuries. The number of people hospitalized with injuries sustain in ATV crashes continues to rise sharply year after year.

One reason the OMA says that children make up such a high percent of the injured is their “lack of physical and cognitive ability to operate ATVs.”

“Research demonstrates that ATVs require considerable muscle strength, as well as proficient cognitive, motor and coordination skills, and experience in making split-second judgments; generally these skills are underdeveloped or critically lacking in children,” the OMA report states.

Some restrictions governing ATV use by children already exist in Ontario, but the OMA believes the present laws are inadequate. The association proposes that no children under age 14 should be permitted to drive an ATV of any size within Ontario. Older children 14 to 16 years should be allowed to drive only low power ATVs that cannot exceed 30 km/hour. The OMA wants to see these rules go into effect on both public land and private property throughout Ontario.

The association also asks “that the ATV manufacturers respond to medical community concerns and voluntarily discontinue their marketing to children without waiting for legislative restrictions …”

To help protect against traumatic brain injury and death, the OMA wants government-approved helmets to be compulsory for ATV drivers of all ages.

The Ontario Safety League (OSL) backs the OMA’s proposal. “The risks and dangers that children face when they operate an ATV are overwhelming and can’t be ignored any longer,” said OSL President Brian Patterson. “That’s why the Ontario Safety League fully supports the OMA’s recommendations to strengthen existing ATV legislation and we hope to see swift implementation of these long overdue regulations.”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Ontario Medical Association wants children banned from ATVs

Dr. Steven Socransky, medical director of Sudbury Regional’s Trauma Program, urged area residents to exercise every caution when riding on an ATV.

“People must recognize that ATVs are heavy, powerful machines that can be difficult to operate safely, particularly by children and young adolescents. They require strength, training, special skills and knowledge that must be learned over a period of time,” he said in a press release.

According to Sudbury Northern Life, “loss of control” is the most cited cause of ATV accidents. Driver error and negligence sometimes contribute to collisions and rollovers, as do ATV design and defects. The Yamaha Rhino, for instance, has claimed as much notoriety in the ATV world as it did fame for the abnormally high number of injuries and fatalities associated with it. Safety advocates and consumer groups assert that the Rhino’s narrow stance and lack of safety features, among other shortcomings, cause it to roll over unexpectedly on flat terrain and at low speeds. Earlier this year, the CPSC and Yamaha announced a recall of all Rhino models for a series of safety upgrades.

According to Sudbury Northern Life, the Canadian Institute of Health Information reports that “the number of ATV-related injuries severe enough to require hospitalization jumped 50 per cent in Canada between 1996 and 2001, with 36 per cent of hospitalizations occurring among children and youth.”

Moreover, “Stats Canada numbers show ATV and other off-road motor vehicles rank as the fourth most common cause of injury-related deaths among Canadian children and youth aged 5 to 19 years.”

According to Canadian government records, children are six times more likely to receive a significant injury riding an ATV than they are in a conventional motor vehicle.

The ever-growing popularity of ATVs in Canada, combined with the vehicles’ inherent dangers, amount to a serious threat to public safety in Canada. Pleas such as the one made by Sudbury Regional Hospital will likely become more common as growing numbers of people experience first hand the devastation and trauma the vehicles can cause.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV injuries skyrocketing in rural Canada

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.”

ACCORDING TO THE PRESS RELEASE: One result of Ms. Crow’s work is the “Citizen Report on UTV Vehicle Hazards,” a compilation of information, statistics, and evidence underscoring the dangers of the Yamaha Rhino and other utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). Ms. Crow collaborated with family members of other Rhino victims, the Trauma Foundation, and the Center for Auto Safety in publishing the report, which is dedicated to the memory of J.T.

“The Yamaha Rhino and some of the other sport-based UTVs have a much greater propensity to roll over than any passenger vehicle or truck on the road,” the report states in its opening. “There are, however, no governmental minimum safety performance standards currently applicable to these vehicles,” the report says.

The authors believe that “such standards are vitally important to prevent occupants from being seriously injured during rollover. Yamaha Rhinos lacking adequate occupant protection have injured, maimed or killed literally hundreds of consumers.”

The report was released to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Recreational Off Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA), and key members of Congress.

“Utility Terrain Vehicles have fallen within a regulatory crevice. These vehicles were introduced to the market and have been sold to consumers without having to meet government safety and performance standards. It is imperative that federal and/or state safety agencies step forward to protect consumers from the growing number of fatalities and severe injuries,” said Ms. Crow in releasing the report.

The report focuses on the safety defects of the Rhino that make it one of the most dangerous UTVs in the world. It also identifies 38 people who lost their lives in Rhino accidents.

“A national tragedy is occurring. Scores of adults, teenagers, and children have been left permanently disabled after their hands, arms, feet, and legs have been crushed in Yamaha Rhino rollovers, and many innocent children have been killed,” Ms. Crow said.

“We call upon Yamaha and other UTV manufacturers to incorporate key safety features necessary to protect occupants from accidents, injuries, and deaths.”

The report calls for many improvements to the Rhino, including better occupant containment methods so that passengers remain inside the vehicle during a rollover; supplementary safety restraints such as partial doors, padded roll cages, and netting; effective seat belt restraint systems that comply with US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; improved stability and handling; and other safety upgrades.

The entire report can be viewed here.

SOURCE: http://www.yamaharhinorolloverandrecall.com/news_articles/2009/20090227-press.htm

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Families devastated by Rhino rollovers release safety report

According to an article in the DeSoto Times-Tribune, the sixth grade class at Lewisburg sponsored the planting of a red maple in front of the school, and they decided to dedicate the new tree to the memory of their classmate Lauren. A plaque bearing Lauren’s name sits beside the tree. The red maple was donated by Quality Landscaping and Garden Center of Olive Branch, Miss.

“Everytime you see it, you can think of her,” said Kelly Wallhood, whose children also attend Lewisburg Middle-High, to the gathered crowd. “You can watch it grow and remember your friend.”

The girl’s father, Trae Dilworth, told the Times-Tribune that he will stop by to see the tree frequently.

“It’s just a living memory of Lauren that will hopefully be here for years to come,” he told the paper.

Lauren’s father was also moved by the kindness of the community in remembering his daughter, especially because she and her family were new in town.

“To have only lived here a short period of time, it’s amazing that such caring people thought so much about Lauren,” Dilworth told the Times-Tribune. “This says a lot about the community.”

Lauren and her friend Emily Bates, also 11 years old, were both in the Rhino when the rollover occurred. Both girls were pinned underneath the vehicle. Dilworth died at the scene and Bates died later at the emergency room.

Dilworth’s science and social studies teacher, Tabitha Green, said that Lauren made a quick and lasting impression on those who knew her, if even for a brief time.

“I never met a girl who was so happy,” Green told the Times-Tribune. “We love Lauren and miss her.”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Community remembers girl killed in Yamaha Rhino rollover

The woman filed her lawsuit in January in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. According to a report in the Southeast Texas Record, her suit, like the other suits filed against Yamaha throughout the county, alleges that the “Rhino is excessively prone to tip over even at low speeds, on flat or slight grade terrain, and while conducting safe turns.”

The suit suggests that Yamaha manufactures the Rhino knowing that the ATV’s instability and lack of safety features makes it a dangerous ride for passengers. She argues that the ATV not only has a narrow track width and high center of gravity, but that its heavy, unpadded roll cage can harm passengers rather than them during a rollover incident.

The Southeast Texas Record points out that Yamaha sent letters to Yamaha owners in 2007 which instructed them to keep their arms and legs inside the vehicle in the event of a rollover. What Yamaha doesn’t explain in the letter is how passengers and their children can recall these words of advice in the middle of a terrifying rollover. Nor does it describe how passengers can defy the laws of physics during an accident, preventing limbs from exiting the ATV as it tips or tumbles.

The suit seeks damages for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and mental anguish. It also seeks punitive damages of an unspecified amount, alleging that Yamaha acted “in a malicious, wanton, willful, fraudulent and reckless manner evincing such an entire want of care as to raise the presumption of a conscious indifference to the consequences.”

More than 100,000 Rhinos have been sold since Yamaha started selling them in 2003.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Texas woman sues Yamaha for daughter injured in Rhino rollover

In Maryland, Joseph Paciera, 24, died Tuesday night when he lost control of the ATV he was driving and struck a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, a 21-year-old Maryland woman was rushed to the hospital, where she is being treated for life-threatening injuries. Authorities say that the ATV rolled over and landed on top of Panciera and his passenger.

KOMO News in Seattle reports that a 41-year-old man was critically injured when his ATV crashed on a city street in West Seattle late Christmas night. The man was riding his ATV with a friend, who did not witness the accident because he was driving ahead of the victim when the accident occurred. The injured man was admitted to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, where he is being treated for life-threatening injuries.

In Miami, two children who received an ATV as a Christmas present last year were flown to the hospital with serious injuries on this Christmas day. A 15-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister were riding the ATV when it hit a bump in the road, causing the ATV to lose control and run head-on into a car that was in motion. Authorities weren’t sure if the children were wearing any protective gear when the accident occurred.

Further north in Central Florida, a 7-year-old child was critically injured while driving an ATV on private property on Christmas Eve. The ATV struck a small tree, throwing the child from the vehicle around 2 p.m. The child was airlifted to a Tallahassee hospital. Charges will be filed because of the incident, according to a report by the Florida Highway Patrol.

In yet another incident in Florida, a 27-year-old Cape Coral man received severe head injuries when his ATV rolled over on Christmas day. According to police, Justin Sears, the victim, was not wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. His 3-year-old passenger, who was wearing a helmet, suffered only minor injuries.

Sadly, an 11-year old girl died near Jacksonville, Florida when the ATV she was driving rolled over and landed on top of her. The victim, Carmen Jenkins, was a fifth grader at Rusk Intermediate School. The accident occurred at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, December 20. Carmen was visiting her grandmother and grandfather in Red Springs when the accident occurred.

A 51-year-old man died in Oregon when he was thrown from the ATV he was driving on Monday, December 22. Investigators at the scene of the accident said that the ATV apparently spun out in the heavy snow, catapulting Gary Boyko of Boring, Oregon into a fence made of railroad tie posts not far from his home. Boyko’s death was the result of “blunt force trauma to the chest.”

Any number of factors can be responsible for an ATV wreck, whether it be serious design flaws, lack of safety gear, irresponsible drivers, or a combination of things. The tragic events of this last week should remind us that all ATVs should be handled with caution and driven responsibly. More unstable ATVs, such as the Yamaha Rhino, should be handled with extreme caution or avoided altogether, as some safety advocates and victims believe.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Holiday season turns tragic for many ATV owners

Careless driving is believed to have contributed to the accident. According to WSFA, Alabama State Trooper Zachary Harrelson said the driver of the ATV “failed to yield to the ‘Game and Fish’ vehicle and was subsequently struck by the ‘Game and Fish’ vehicle.”

The news report cites statistics from the Alabama Department of Public Safety that say in 2007, 121 ATV accidents have occurred on public roads in Alabama, resulting in 94 injuries and 13 deaths.

No helmet laws exist in Alabama, and training isn’t required by Alabama law, although it is offered by many ATV dealers.

As ATVs are becoming more popular among children, chidren are becoming more at risk of having an ATV accident.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV safety questioned after fatal accident in Alabama

The Mitchells’ daughter was a passenger in the Rhino ATV when it rolled over onto the passenger side. The June 2005 accident occurred while the ATV was being driven soundly, leading the Mitchells to allege that the Yamaha Rhino is dangerously unstable and defective. Like many people throughout the country, the Mitchells suggest the accident would not have occurred if Yamaha had set higher standards for Rhino safety.

While Yamaha stands by the safety of its Rhino, critics claim that the ATV is exceptionally dangerous because of its high center of gravity, narrow track width, narrow wheels and tires, and side-by-side seating.

The Mitchells’ daughter suffered severe injuries to her knee, arm, foot, and ankle in the rollover. She required emergency surgery and surgeons ultimately had to amputate four of the toes on her right foot.

“No more children or adults should suffer serious injuries for simply riding in the Rhino,” said Teresa Mitchell in report from the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.

“In a split second, these dangerous vehicles can change a life forever,” she said.

The Mitchells believe that their lawsuit against Yamaha will help prompt Yamaha “to acknowledge its legal responsibility to injured riders and make the Rhino a safe vehicle.”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Parents of Tenn. girl injured in Rhino rollover sue Yamaha

The ATV flipped on the road and pinned the two girls’ bodies; both girls were not wearing seat belts, which may or may not have made a difference in their lives.

After he discovered the accident,  Milton Kuykendall, Superintendent of Education in Lewisburg, said, “Life can change in an instant.  We are so sorry for their families and friends. There is no greater sadness than losing a child.”

The girls’ teachers considered Bates and Dilworth, both sixth graders,  to be “excellent students.” Lewisburg Middle High principal James Brady said about Dilworth, “She was very well-liked by her peers and loved by her teachers.”

Levi Williams, principle of Southaven Middle School said about Bates, “She was an exceptional soccer player, playing on two Southaven recreational leagues, and a member of the SMS band.”

James Wheat, a friend of Bates, can only pray for the two families, considering both girls were very young.

A memorial service was held for Dilworth on October 21st while a service was held for Bates on October 22nd. The families desire any memorials for the girls be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Community grieves girls’ death

October 28, 2008, will mark the anniversary of this young girl’s death, which was lost on a Yamaha Rhino; her body could not withstand the 1,100-pound weight of the ATV, which rolled over and crushed her.

One can tell Ellie loved life by the smile on her face in each photo of this video. One can’t help but fall in love with this beautiful little girl as she is watched bowling, swimming, dancing, spending time with her family, and just enjoying life.

Yamaha Rhinos aren’t just killing adults; many claim the lives of innocent children. A Yamaha Rhino stripped Ellie Sand of her promising future. Why are people still driving Yamaha Rhinos?

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › father’s slide show for daugher killed in Rhino rollover

An air ambulance rushed her to the hospital and for 24 hours machines held her at the brink of life. But the weight of the 1,100-pound Rhino was just too much for her. Ellie died last October.

Since that tragic day, the Sand family has tried to make sense of what happened to their beautiful daughter. Their Web site is a way to warn other families of the dangers of Yamaha Rhinos before more people are killed.

The Web site touches on safety concerns, court cases, customer complaints, and independent testing of Yamaha Rhinos. It also includes a Rhino rollover movie and Yamaha marketing video. Perhaps the most startling page is the Rhino Victims page, which shows the glowing faces of the children and adults killed while riding this dangerous vehicle. J.T. Crow was 9; Lan McCloud was 8; Andrew Bahl was only 3.

In May, we reported that these Rhinos killed more than 500 people in 2006. Nearly 1 in 5 was a child. Can someone please explain why these horrid vehicles are still being sold?

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Family dedicates Web site to daughter killed in Rhino rollover

According to reports on local television station NBC15, the rollover occured on private property in the area of Lancaster, Wis., on Sunday morning. The report says the Rhino rolled over, pinning young Andrew. The boy was transported to the hospital by local emergency response personnel and then life-flighted to Madison, Wis., where he passed away. His father suffered a broken leg in the accident.

The family, no doubt, suffers a broken heart.

Sadly, this is just the latest in a series of tragic events associated with the Yamaha Rhino, which is suspected of design flaws that make the vehicle fundamentally unstable. While the details of the Wisconsin accident have not been released, information on the company’s web site, www.yamaha-motor.com and in the Yamaha Rhino Owner’s Manual acknowledges that “abrupt maneuvers or aggressive driving have caused rollovers – even on flat, open areas.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to this family.

Please, please use extreme caution if you own and operate a vehicle of this nature, and do not allow very young children to ride with you. Parents are certainly going to be careful when navigating a Rhino with a child aboard, but experience has shown that even the most cautious operator can find himself in the midst of sudden tragedy when an unstable vehicle rolls over and helpless passengers are thrown.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › child killed in Rhino rollover

The truth is, I come across these types of stories almost every day. Happy bloggers talk about their new Rhino or other ATV, looking forward to exciting times with their young children and posting photos similar to the one of Pitt. It makes me cringe to see small kids, sometimes with no helmet or other protective gear, pictured in these vehicles.

Almost as often, I read the stories of broken bones and lost loved ones as a joyride turns into tragedy.

ATVs are meant to be fun, of course, but they should be treated using extreme care and caution. Young people, in particular, should be properly trained about how to safely operate them and should always wear protective gear. These are NOT toys. These are pieces of heavy machinery with powerful engines. A Yamaha Rhino weighs more than 1,000 pounds.

The All-Terrain Vehicle Safety Institute (ASI), a not-for-profit division of the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA), provides safety tips for ATV riders, including a caution that adults should closely supervise children younger than 16 on these vehicles. The organization also recommends that all ATV riders take a safety course.

Seeing a 2-year-old in her father’s arms on a Rhino in particular is scary. I’m sure he was going at a slow speed, and I’m sure he thought he was being careful. But pending claims against this particular vehicle allege that design defects make the Rhino fundamentally unstable. Information provided by the company’s web site, www.yamaha-motor.com and in the Yamaha Rhino Owner’s Manual acknowledges that “abrupt maneuvers or aggressive driving have caused rollovers – even on flat, open areas.”

Thankfully, Pitt will only have to endure the criticisms of the public, rather than the heartbreak of serious injury caused by his thoughtless action. I hope that as his celebrity status spreads the story, others will get the message that ATVs can be dangerous. Unfortunately, however, his action may instead be imitated by others who won’t be so lucky.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Pitt toddler Rhino ride causes stir

Some 75 percent of the ATV accidents result in serious damage to the head or spinal cord of the accident victim. Head injuries are a major cause of serious life threatening or lifelong physical problems and ailments. Injury to the spinal cord can result in paralysis of the entire body for life.

Most of the deaths and injuries to children are the result of youngsters riding adult-size ATVs, and consumer groups say the agency needs to do more to keep kids off ATVs that are too big and too powerful for them. Consumer advocates have called on the CPSC to ban the sale of adult-size ATVs for use for children. The agency has declined to do that.

There is only a voluntary agreement in place with major ATV distributors in which they require dealers not to sell adult-size ATVs to people who might allow children to ride them. Consumer groups say few dealers abide by the rule.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Report Outlines Danger