› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
Christmas day may forever be tinged with sadness for the family and friends of 18-year-old Andy Case, a resident of Sidney, Kentucky, who died after losing control of the all-terrain vehicle he was driving.
All of the lawsuits involving the Yamaha Rhino that were filed in federal court have been brought together for pretrial litigation under U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman in the Western District of Kentucky. Judge Coffman will preside over five trials scheduled to open between October 2010 and January 2011.
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.
An in-depth report of Yamaha Rhinos published by CBS exposes some surprising and ironic facts surrounding the history of the popular off-road vehicle. According to the report, in July 2002, Yamaha executives gathered in an expanse of rural Kentucky to test drive prototypes for a “new generation” of off-road vehicles. These new vehicles would take off-roading to a new level, replacing the single rider ATVs that riders had to straddle, with side by side seats, a cargo compartment and a frame narrow enough to fit in the back of a standard pickup truck. These New Generation Vehicles, or NGVs as Yamaha execs called them, would later be known as the Yamaha Rhino. The first Rhino rollover injuries would occur during these test drives.
A report in the Appalachian News-Express, which serves Eastern Kentucky, reported ATV accidents claimed two lives over the Memorial Day weekend. The newspaper said the death of a 12-year-old girl, Sarah Elizabeth Colley, and a 17-year-old girl, Brianna Castle, died in unrelated ATV accidents.
