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 boy’s parents, James and Bonnie Spencer, needed a UTV for farming chores. They bought a Rhino 450 from their local Yamaha dealership on May 20. Having heard about the Rhino’s propensity to roll over, the Spencers had their dealership make the recommended safety upgrades, including installing spacers on the rear of the vehicle to give it added stability. The Spencers received their Rhino last Thursday after the proper work had been performed, according to a report by the Times Union.

Wyatt, as the boy was called by family and friends, was anxious to test drive the new Rhino. Having grown up on a farm, he had a lot of experience driving four wheelers and dirt bikes. So when the Rhino was delivered, he and a friend were eager to give it a spin.

The boys rode the Rhino around for most of the afternoon, took a break, and then decided to ride one more time in the early evening, around 5 p.m.

The Rhino rolled when it hit a patch of wet grass about 500 yards from the Spencers’ home. The vehicle, weighing more than half a ton, landed on top of Wyatt. His friend, 14-year-old Brian Pitts, was able to push the vehicle off of his friend. He then ran home and called 911.

Paramedics rushed Wyatt to an ER in Albany, where he was pronounced dead from severe head trauma. Wyatt was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. It is not known whether the Spencers received a free helmet from Yamaha as part of the recommended safety recall.

Most of the Rhino-related deaths – about 50 in the U.S. so far – were caused as a result of injuries sustained in a rollover. According to the Times Union, a certified mechanic will inspect the Spencers’ vehicle to make sure the safety upgrades were installed properly.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Rhino rollover claims life of 13-year-old boy

The rollover occurred on Monday evening when Camarillo apparently lost control of the Rhino. According to the local coroner’s investigator, Camarillo was thrown from the vehicle. He was not wearing a safety belt. Investigators do not yet know what caused the driver to lose control of the UTV and roll over.

The Desert Sun reports that aside from Camarillo and the passenger who was airlifted in critical condition, four others received injuries as a result of the rollover. All were transported to area hospitals.

The accident occurred nearly two months after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Yamaha Motor Corporation issued a safety recall of all Rhino models (450, 660, and 700). The CPSC announced the recall after investigating 50 Rhino accidents. Although many of the reports investigated by the CPSC involved unbelted passengers, the agency found that several of the accidents appeared to result from design flaws that critics claim make the UTVs unstable.

120,000 Rhinos have been sold since the vehicles first appeared on the U.S. market in the fall of 2003. Since then, Rhinos have been blamed on nearly 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Consumers have filed approximately 200 lawsuits against Yamaha in U.S. courts, alleging the Rhinos to be dangerously unstable, even when driven on flat terrain and at low rates of speed.

The CPSC has advised all Rhino owners to stop using the vehicles until a local dealer has made the appropriate safety upgrades to the vehicles. Additionally, Yamaha has instructed its dealerships to stop selling Rhinos until the improvements are made. Yamaha is also giving free helmets to Rhino owners who schedule their vehicles for the safety upgrades.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Rhino rollover kills California man, injures 5 others

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

The dealer told the couple that it would call them back when it had time to perform the safety repairs. Yamaha designed the new safety enhancements to prevent and minimize injury during a rollover. Rhinos are notoriously narrow and unstable vehicles, and every year people become maimed or killed when their Rhinos roll over because there is little, if anything, to prevent one’s head, arms, and legs from protruding during a rollover.

Which is just what happened to the West Virginia couple while they were waiting for a call from their Rhino dealership. In October 2007, the male was driving the Rhino. When the vehicle started to topple, the driver reacted by sticking his leg out to prevent a full-scale rollover. Although his reaction was a natural one, it did not prevent the Rhino from rolling over and crushing the driver’s leg. He now suffers from severe and permanent injuries.

Last month Yamaha and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a “voluntary repair program” which effectively recalled all Rhino 450, 660, and 700 models for safety upgrades. Yamaha Motor Corp. agreed to install passenger doors, hand grips, and rear wheel spacers on Rhinos already sold. Additionally, the manufacturer plans to remove the rear anti-sway bar on the vehicles, which will give them more stability.

Yamaha headquarters also told its dealerships to discontinue Rhino sales until all safety upgrades were made. While so many repairs are being performed on showroom Rhinos for sale, many dealerships have little time to perform recall repairs.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › West Virginia couple sues Yamaha dealership

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced just last week that owners of Yamaha Rhino 450, 660, and 700 models could take the vehicles to their dealership for free safety repairs and upgrades. Although Yamaha clearly denies on its website that this is not a recall but a “voluntary repair program,” the CPSC believes the vehicles are a substantial risk and advises the public to avoid operating Rhinos until the proper improvements have been made. Yamaha has also told its dealers to refrain from selling Rhinos until the repairs have been made.

Yamaha Rhinos have been under investigation by the CPSC for months. The commission analyzed more than 50 Rhino accidents that involved 46 driver and passenger deaths. Two-thirds of the accidents resulted in a rollover.

Yamaha’s complimentary “repair campaign” addresses some of the issues that make the Rhino so unstable. It will modify the rear wheels with spacers, giving the vehicle a wider track. It will also remove the rear anti-sway bar, which Yamaha expects will reduce the chance of a rollover and improve the vehicle’s stability and handling.

Because hundreds more people have been seriously maimed in Rhino rollovers, Yamaha is also installing half doors and handholds. Those improvements are intended to reduce the number of people who suffer from crushed or amputated arms and legs. Additionally, Yamaha is offering owners free helmets when they update their Rhinos.

Despite the improvements, critics of the vehicle say that they still don’t adequately address the vehicles’ design flaws. Maneuvers that can be performed safely on other ATVs are still unreasonably dangerous when done on a Rhino.

The Canadian lawsuit was filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Dec. 12, 2008 and served to Yamaha last week.

Source: Bloomberg.com

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Rhino lawsuit moves forward as Yamaha launches repair campaign

The recall involves all Rhino 450, 660 and 700 model vehicles. According to an official news release, the CPSC staff has investigated more than 50 incidents involving 46 driver and passenger deaths related to the Rhino. They report more than two-thirds of the cases involved rollovers, and many appear to involve turns at relatively low speed and on level terrain.

Beasley Allen attorney and Product Liability section head Cole Portis has reviewed over 75 Yamaha Rhino rollover claims in the past two years. He says,”We are concerned that this recall, while a good first step, does not address the inherent design flaws that make the Yamaha Rhino so susceptible to low-speed rollovers. However, I remain hopeful that this government recall will serve as a wake-up call and that Yamaha will re-evaluate their practice of putting profits over people. ”

The recall originally only included the 450 and 660 models, but within a day of the announcement the CPSC added the 700 model as well. The recall includes about 120,000 of the 450 and 660 models and 25,000 of the 700 models.

Yamaha will suspend sales of the vehicles until they are repaired, and consumers are urged to stop riding the vehicles until repairs are made.

Yamaha’s recommended repair includes the installation of a spacer on the rear wheels and removal of the rear anti-sway bar to help reduce the chance of rollover and improve vehicle handling. The repair also includes installation of half doors and additional passenger hand-holds, which Yamaha already recommended after earlier reports of rollover injuries.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › CPSC, Yamaha recall Rhino vehicles

The repairs are designed to reduce rollover risk, as well as to improve handling and keep riders’ limbs inside the vehicles.

Rhino 450 and 660 owners should stop using these vehicles and call their local dealer to schedule an appointment for repairs. They can also receive a free helmet.

Sales of these vehicles have also been suspended for repairs.

This is the first government recall of this category of recreational vehicle.

For more details, call Yamaha at 800-962-7926.

SOURCE: The Associated Press

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Yamaha Rhino ATVs recall issued for two models

Those words were written by Heidi Crow, whose 9-year-old son Jeremy Todd “J.T.” perished on June 22, 2007 when the new Yamaha Rhino 450 he was a passenger in rolled over. J.T.’s older sister Madison was driving the Rhino on at their grandparents’ property when it tipped over suddenly while traveling at a low speed.

The Rhino rolled over on its side just a quarter of a turn, but it was enough to throw J.T. from the vehicle even though he was properly belted. The boy suffered massive head and neck injuries when the Rhino’s unpadded steel roll cage pinned him to the ground, underneath a thousand pounds of weight.

Emergency personnel rushed J.T. to a hospital in Jasper, Texas where he was pronounced dead.

“The seat belt system failed to restrain him. Nor was the Rhino equipped with doors and safety netting that could have kept J.T. inside the Rhino and saved his life,” writes Heidi Crow.

In August 2007, just weeks after J.T.’s death, Yamaha began issuing safety doors and hand grips for its Rhinos as a means of reducing the number of people who are seriously injured in Rhino rollovers. The announcement, which was made in the form of a “special offer,” told Rhino owners that Yamaha would retro-fit doors and handholds free of charge.

But Yamaha still hasn’t addressed the causes for all the rollovers, which include the ATV’s high center of gravity, narrow track width and wheels, and other design flaws.

According to his mother, “J.T. was a very smart and beautiful boy. He excelled at academics and sports, but most special was his compassion for others and gift for making people feel important.”

While J.T.’s life was cut short, his family lives on to spread the word about the dangers of Yamaha Rhinos. Heidi Crow believes it is now her responsibility to “help save others from a tragic fate like J.T.’s.”

“His memory will go on, and his story will be told as long as it needs to be told to save lives,”she  says on a website devoted to his memory.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Family of boy killed in Rhino rollover establishes memorial fund