› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Bad Boy Enterprises LLC of Natchez, Mississippi announced a recall today of approximately 3,900 “Bad Boy Buggy” all-terrain vehicles. According to the CPSC alert, the off-road vehicles can accelerate suddenly and unexpectedly, posing serious safety risks to passengers and bystanders.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that it intends to further its commitment to improve the safety of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) and reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries nationwide that are related to these vehicles. The commission voted to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to address safety hazards associated with vehicle ROVs.
Iowa’s Daily Register reported the death of 38-year-old Arthur John Rios, who died from injuries he sustained when his all-terrain vehicle rolled over last Thursday afternoon. According to investigators, Rios was driving a 2004 Polaris Sportsman 500 HD ATV north along a wooded trail just south of Eldorado at the time of the accident. The ATV apparently rolled off the trail and landed in the adjoining river.
An all-terrain vehicle accident claimed the life of 15-year-old high school student from University Heights, Ohio, a community east of Cleveland. A report by NBC affiliate WKYC in Cleveland said that Dan Murphy was riding on an ATV with 3 other students from St. Ignatius High School, A preparatory school in Cleveland run by the Jesuits.
Prompted by the accidental death of a former Nebraska state senator and lifelong farmer, Omaha’s World-Herald published a report about the dangers of farming. The profession, which is a way of life in the rural state, is also one of the most dangerous in the United States, the World-Herald points out, thanks in part to all-terrain vehicles and their propensity to crash.
As in rural parts of the United States, all-terrain vehicles in rural Canada are becoming a way of life. Unhindered by wild, rugged landscapes, ATVs for many seem like the perfect choice for hunting, trapping, farming, or just exploring and having fun trail blazing and off-roading. However, as the ATVs grow in popularity, so do the number of traumatic injuries reported by many hospitals. Sudbury Regional Hospital in northern Ontario, for instance, reports an explosion of ATV-related trauma since 2007.
A report on Nashville FOX affiliate WZTV’s website says a rash of motor vehicle accidents in Kentucky last week has left 15 people dead, and 4 of the victims were on all-terrain vehicles, according to Kentucky State Police. The latest deaths bring the total number of ATV-related fatalities statewide to 14.
The untimely death of 21-year-old Brenda Strizek, a native of Valparaiso, Nebraska, who lost her life in an all-terrain vehicle accident on August 8, 2009, has called attention to the issue of ATV safety in Nebraska. A few days after the accident, Lincoln’s Journal Star published an article entitled “ATV fun comes with risk,” highlighting the recreational and practical benefits of off-road vehicles, but also underscoring their dangers.
A 53-year old Ohio man was killed on Wednesday after he was apparently thrown from the Honda all-terrain vehicle he was driving near a soybean field. According to Ohio’s Chronicle-Telegram, accident investigators and the people who knew Dennis Ralich are both deeply saddened and baffled by the circumstances of his death. Ralich lived in Eaton Township, a community just Southwest of Cleveland, and was a 30-year employee of the Domestic Relations Court in Lorain County, Ohio.
The Texas jury that heard the first case against Yamaha and its popular Rhino, an all-terrain vehicle that consumer groups and safety advocates claim is highly unstable and deadly, ruled in the manufacturer’s favor last week. The case was brought to court by the parents of Forrest “Eddie” Ray, a 13-year-old boy who was killed in 2007 when the Rhino he was driving flipped.
