The Sands lost their 10-year-old daughter Ellie when the Rhino she was a passenger in rolled over, crushing her head between the ground and the vehicle’s unpadded roll cage. The accident occurred when the driver, traveling at 15 mph on flat terrain, attempted to make a right turn. Ellie suffered a massive brain injury and died the following day.

Since Ellie’s death, the Sands have courageously turned their grief into a positive effort to call attention to the dangers of the Yamaha Rhino. They forged alliances with families of other victims who were killed or injured in Rhino rollovers and they flooded the CPSC with testimonies. Then, after months of investigations, the CPSC announced what is effectively a recall of the Rhinos.

The CPSC has advised all Rhino owners to immediately stop driving their UTVs until Yamaha makes a series of repairs and improvements to the vehicles, free of charge, at a Yamaha dealership. Yamaha Motor Co. has advised all its dealerships to discontinue selling additional Rhino 450, 660, and 700 models until those same modifications have been performed. The modifications are intended to give the Rhino more stability and reduce the chances of being maimed or killed in a rollover.

John and Tammy Sand can now share a sense of accomplishment, and they are pleased that the CPSC pushed Yamaha to take a step in the right direction.

“It made us feel good,” Sands told the Middletown Journal. “I don’t want to take credit for this, but it’s a fight we took up for Ellie.”

Resources: Ellie’s Mission Page; Yamaha Motor Co.; CPSC; Middletown Journal

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Parents of Yamaha Rhino victim happy about ‘recall’

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