› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
Yamaha Motor Corp. has lost a lawsuit filed against the company by a plaintiff who received extensive leg injuries when his Rhino ATV flipped, pinning him underneath. The case marks the first time a jury has awarded damages to a plaintiff for injuries sustained in a Rhino accident.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report called “All-Terrain Vehicles: How They Are Used, Crashes, and Sales of Adult-Sized Vehicles for Children’s Use.” The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is responsible for monitoring ATV safety and federal rulemaking affecting the manufacturing, sale and use of the vehicles, requires GAO to report on the various uses and advantages of ATVs and the nature, frequency and costs associated with ATV crashes.
A 31-year-old Minnesota woman died Saturday when the all-terrain vehicle she was a passenger on crashed into a tree. According to the Bemidji Pioneer, Jessica Christopherson was riding on a 2004 Honda TRX 650R ATV driven by Chad Tabaka, also 30 years old, when the accident occurred.
A 5-year-old girl from Iron County, Utah has been hospitalized with injuries she received when the driver of a Yamaha Rhino she was a passenger in lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree. Four other girls ages 5 to 9 were also in the vehicle and suffered minor injuries.
A 22-year-old student helicopter pilot was killed early Sunday morning when the all-terrain vehicle she was driving rolled over. Reports say that Aura Corina Dacin, who friends described as a free spirit, “wild child” and thrill seeker, was driving the ATV at Oakland-Troy Airport in Troy, Michigan, when the rollover occurred.
A four-year-old boy was found dead last Saturday night in a creek bed after the all-terrain vehicle he was driving flipped, pinning him underneath. According to initial reports, the boy was last seen playing outside with a group of children on his parents’ property in Frederick County, Maryland, before he wandered off on his own and got on the Polaris Predator 50cc ATV, a model designed for children.
A bill that would have encouraged ATV safety by setting age and passenger limits and requiring passengers to wear helmets died in Mississippi’s last legislative session. Now another child is dead and two others injured following an ATV accident in the Hebron Community, located about halfway between Jackson and Hattiesburg in the south-central portion of state.
A 19-year old Illinois man died Saturday evening after the all-terrain vehicle he was driving rolled over and landed on top of him. Authorities investigating the accident said the victim, identified as Leonard Mlynarczyk, a resident of Bloomingdale in the Chicago suburbs, was riding his ATV at a park in Yorkville around 10 p.m. Saturday night when the accident occurred.
According to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recently published all-terrain vehicle data “appears to indicate that the numbers of deaths and injuries caused by ATVs declined in 2008 as compared to 2007.”
January was a deadly month across North America for teenagers riding all-terrain vehicles. ATV accidents are responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries each year. Especially alarming is the growing number of accidents involving children and teenagers, who account for a third of all injuries and fatalities linked to ATV crashes.
