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

Mississippi remains one of the few states with almost no laws restricting 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.

Tragically, in Mississippi, children are too often the victims of the dangerous vehicles, and there is a growing feeling that the state’s lack of legislation governing their use and safety represents a big part of the problem.

Two days before Christmas, in Warren County, Mississippi, an ATV accident claimed the life of 15-year-old Caitlin Lopez, who was driving a Yamaha Big Bear when “suddenly it flipped,” according to Jackson NBC affiliate WLBT. The accident injured 6-year-old twin sisters Kimberly and Kaylee Madison, who were passengers in the Yamaha when it rolled over.

“Knowing that they’re here and that they’re walking and talking and breathing. It is remarkable to me,” Selena Madison, the mother of the twins, told WLBT.

Last year, Coroner Gillentine-Green pronounced the deaths of 20-year-old Crystal Hooper and her 5-year-old cousin Natalie Aguilar, who were killed when 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.

But will adding new legislation, such as requiring the use of helmets, help reduce the number of ATV-related injuries and fatalities? Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace says it will.

“I attribute at least some of this to Mississippi’s lack of legislation,” Pace told WLBT, referring to the recent spate of ATV crashes that claimed the lives of Mississippi teens and children.

But Sheriff Pace also believes that the vehicles are dangerous to start with, and that anyone riding them should be extremely cautious, no matter what the laws are.

“In 2009, we’ve lost two beautiful teenage girls to four wheeler accidents. And they’re just inherently dangerous vehicles,” Pace said.

Two Mississippi legislators, Gray Tollison (D) and Dannie Reed (R) are also calling for better legislation.

“We need to consider legislation this session to decrease the increasing number of ATV deaths and serious injuries, especially children. I believe that the passage of a law requiring the use of a helmet and required training for persons without a drivers license would go a long way to reduce the number of ATV deaths and serious injuries in Mississippi,” Tollison said in a statement.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV deaths prompt Mississippi to consider better ATV legislation

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

While details of the accident haven’t been released, it has been reported that Tate suffered a broken jaw and facial lacerations. Tate’s face bore the brunt of the accident, but fortunately he was protected from head injuries because he wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

A high school center fielder from Cartersville, Georgia, Tate signed with the Padres on August 17 and received a $6.5 million bonus, the largest signing bonus in franchise history. He is 18 years old.

Tate, who has not played a game with the Padres yet, had been in recovery and rehabilitation after having surgery on a sports-related hernia in October. Following his ATV accident, surgeons reportedly inserted steel plate in Tate’s mouth and wired his jaw shut.

Despite all of his injuries, the Padres say that Tate will be ready for spring training. The team is likely to have had some practice in thinking positively, since 8 of their 10 top draft picks, including Tate, have suffered from injuries or had personal problems soon after the draft.

The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates 150,900 ATV-related injuries treated in emergency rooms nationwide will be recorded for the statistical year 2007 – nearly double the number of injuries reported 10 years ago. Despite occasional drops in the number of reported ATV-related injures and deaths from year to year, the overall trend since 1988 has been upward.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Top MLB draft pick Tate injured in ATV crash

Reports say that Rivers was driving on a path near South Chestnut Street and East Franklin Avenue in the Beulah community southeast of downtown Foley when he struck a wire that had been strung across the path. London sustained serious neck injuries when she hit the wire and was pronounced dead at the scene. Rivers also received serious neck injuries and was taken to South Baldwin Hospital for treatment. The older girl suffered no injuries and was released to family.

Authorities say the accident took place about 6:15. The incident is under investigation and no arrests have been made. Some reports say that the wire was strung between 2 posts, one on each side of the trail, bearing “no trespassing” signs.

London would have celebrated her fourth birthday next week.

According to government records, children represent 40% of all ATV-related injuries and deaths. More than 50 children are admitted to Alabama Children’s hospitals every year with injuries they received in an ATV rollover or other accident. The most common injuries associated with ATV accidents involve the head, face, and spine; traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, and fractures are some of the serious injuries children typically receive in ATV crashes.

ATV injuries and deaths have escalated sharply in the last couple of years as off-road vehicles become increasingly popular.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › 3-year-old Alabama girl dies when ATV strikes a wire

According to KSL, an NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Olson hopped onto the back of a friend’s ATV last September and went for a ride. Her friend lost control of the vehicle, and in the accident, Olson, who was not wearing a helmet, struck her head.

Olson’s mother Kim Laird told KSL that emergency workers said her daughter had actually died at the scene. Olson spent nearly a month in a coma. Now, a year after the accident, she spends her days in rehab trying to relearn the basic, everyday functions that most people take for granted: walking, talking, eating, and even blinking, too.

“It injured the motor skills in the right side of her brain, that operates the opposite side of her body,” Laird explained to KSL. “I really do believe if she had a helmet on she would not be in the condition she’s in,” Laird said.

Olson warned other ATV and motorcycle riders to wear their helmets. “I’ve suffered enough. I wouldn’t want anyone to suffer as much as I have,” she told KSL.

Olson and her family hope for a full recovery from the debilitating effects of the traumatic brain injury. “I want to be … to get up, to go to my car and go to the mall and go shopping,” she told KSL.

The Utah Department of Health says that at the time of injury, only 29 percent of seriously injured Utahns under the age of 18 were wearing a helmet as state law requires. Utah law does not require people age 18 and older to wear helmets while operating or riding on an ATV.

For the full story and a video of Morgan Olson’s story, click here.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Utah teenager injured on ATV urges others to wear helmets

Friends of Ritter told the Gaston Gazette that he was always smiling, that he would never part with his ragged Old Navy cap, that he had an appetite for double cheeseburgers and was seldom seen without a Pepsi. He was someone we all know. To a 4-year-old girl named Lily, he was Dad.

Ritter was driving an ATV less than a mile from his home near High Shoals, N.C. on Tuesday, September 8. He attempted to pass another ATV driven by 20-year-old Jackson Depietro, resulting in a collision that caused both vehicles to wreck.

Ritter’s passenger, 15-year-old Michelle King, and Depietro received treatment at a local hospital and have since been released. Ritter was thrown from the vehicle and hit the ground, receiving a severe head injury. He was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he died on Friday.

According to the NC Highway Patrol, none of the three were wearing helmets, required by state law unless the vehicle is being used for farming, hunting or trapping.

The Gaston Gazette reported that Ritter was a car racing enthusiast who would spend his free time at the local track and racing events. After he became a father, however, he gave up his favorite hobby to spend as much time as he could with his daughter. Rather than racing cars, Ritter became a spectator, and he would often take Lily to the speedway to watch the races.

“She loved to go out to the dirt track and watch races with him,” Ritter’s wife Hope told the Gaston Gazette.  “That was one of their hobbies.”

East Lincoln Motor Speedway, where Anthony was a regular, held a memorial for him during its weekend races. A video of the memorial can be viewed online at YouTube.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV collision claims the life of North Carolina racing enthusiast

Forest “Eddie” Ray was killed on September 13, 2007 while operating a Yamaha Rhino near his home in Orange County, Texas, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. School was closed for the day as Hurricane Humberto approached the area, giving Ray some free time to enjoy the family ATV.

Reports say that Ray tried to maneuver the Rhino from grass onto a paved road when the rollover occurred. Ray sustained a fatal head injury when the vehicle rolled over onto him, crushing his head. His parents allege in the lawsuit that Yamaha made and marketed a product they knew to be defectively designed and prone to roll over. They also accuse Yamaha of skimping on costs by not installing vital safety features.

Earlier this year, Yamaha attorneys argued that the fine print on an agreement signed by the plaintiffs at their Yamaha dealership precluded the plantiffs’ right to take their grievances to trial. Court documents showed that the plaintiffs’ finance agreement from the dealership contained an arbitration clause.

The court denied Yamaha’s motion to force arbitration on June 30. An appeal was rejected on July 16. The trial opened on August 17 in the 163rd Judicial Court in Orange County, Texas before a jury of eight men and five women.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › First Yamaha Rhino lawsuit goes to trial

Following the advice of his doctors, Bullock’s parents moved him to the Children’s Center in Bethany, Oklahoma, a non-profit pediatric hospital. Bullock would spend the next two years of his life at the center, relearning the most basic functions of living – walking, talking, eating. The hospital staff persisted in treating Bullock, even though he showed no signs of improvement for 6 months.

Suddenly, the spark of life that people recognized as Bullock, the boy they remembered, began to emerge. Rehab workers had engaged Bullock in a slew of therapeutic exercises with little to no result, but musical therapy proved different.

According to Tami Crawford, a recreational therapist at the Children’s Center, following the patient’s leads and customizing therapy sessions is essential to recovery.

“It’s all about thinking outside the box – working with the patients themselves about what they want and can actually do,” she told The Oklahoman.

Bullock enthusiastically participated in his musical therapy sessions and began singing before he recovered his ability to talk.

Megan Long, a music therapist who worked with Bullock, said that music rehabilitates the whole brain. “Music is a full-brain function. If you have brain damage in one part of the brain, we can still use music to retrain that other side of the brain because music appears all over the place,” she told The Oklahoman.

“If the language portion of your brain is damaged you may lose the language but with music, you could still sing,” Long explained.

Bullock moved back home after living at the Children’s Center for two years, but he was determined to give back to the hospital that helped him so much. Now an Eagle Scout and a junior in high school, Bullock works on improving playgrounds at the Children’s Center and elsewhere – civic duties that give him a vast amount of joy. He also completed a two-mile Walk to Cure Diabetes course with his parents.

The injuries Bullock received in the ATV accident years ago still continue to shape his life – his left arm is numb and rigid and he has problems walking — but the young man is determined they won’t hold him back.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Boy’s recovery from ATV accident injuries considered a miracle

Wyatt, who was an only child, was eager to take the Rhino out for a spin on the day the local Yamaha dealership delivered the vehicle to the family farm. Wyatt spent the better part of the day on May 28 test driving the brand-new Rhino with a school friend. Then, in the late afternoon, the rollover occurred in a field about 500 yards from Wyatt’s house.

Wyatt suffered severe head trauma in the rollover and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving by ambulance to an ER in Albany. Wyatt’s friend was not injured in the accident.

According to his parents, Wyatt had lots of experience driving ATVs and dirt bikes on the farm. Jim Spencer said the dealer that sold him the Rhino never mentioned the massive recall of all Rhino UTVs issued jointly by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission and Yamaha Motor Corporation on March 31, 2009.

“It broke my heart,” Mr. Spencer told Albany, New York’s NEWS10. “If I found out what I found out after, I would have never bought this machine,” he said.

The dealership maintains that Mr. Spencer knew the vehicle had to be retrofitted with safety upgrades and thus the recall was implied.

Investigators and lawyers for both Yamaha and the Spencers met in Knox last week to inspect the vehicle and the scene of the accident.

“I don’t want to see anybody else get killed,” Jim Spencer told NEWS10.

“Whatever other investigation needs to be done in this field, I am all for it.”

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Parents of Rhino rollover victim may sue Yamaha

The family of Wyatt Bauer of Rimbey, Alberta seeks $400 million CA (about $316 million US). The boy was killed while vacationing with his family in 2007. He received multiple injuries in the rollover, including severe head trauma.

Because the Rhino has a propensity to roll over during normal, safe operation, Yamaha and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) jointly announced a “voluntary repair program” (effectively a recall), which allows owners of all Rhino models to take their ATVs to their dealership for a series of safety repairs and upgrades. Additionally, Yamaha Motor Co. has told all of its dealers to cease selling new Rhinos until they perform the same safety upgrades to their showroom vehicles.

The safety repairs include the installation of doors, hand grips, and a rear wheel spacer and the removal of the rear anti-sway bar. Several people throughout the US and Canada have been severely maimed or killed while riding in Rhinos because the vehicles have a fundamental design flaw. A narrow track width and a high center of gravity make the vehicles prone to roll over during normal operation. Rhinos also lack some key safety features that would help keep persons contained in the vehicle during a rollover.

The Canadian class action also includes allegations made by a Canadian man whose foot was trapped and crushed under the weight of his Rhino when it rolled over. If his Rhino had been equipped with safety doors, his leg likely could have remained inside the vehicle. Instead, the man’s leg was crushed under the Rhino’s unpadded roll cage, causing injuries that required multiple surgeries.

Acting CPSC chairman Nancy Nord said the Rhino recall was “a critical step toward increasing family safety. “I personally have been so concerned about the number of deaths and injuries associated with these vehicles that I directed staff to step up their investigative efforts,” she said in a statement.

Sources: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aS0pYstKqSYg

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Canadian-Class-Action-prnews-14815334.html?.v=4

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Death of boy in Rhino rollover prompts Canadian class action suit