I have discussed the lawyers piling on trying to sue Yamaha and the often incomplete media coverage that is pointed directly at Yamaha over their highly successful Rhino SxS.
They've finally had their day in court. The jury has found no defects in the Yamaha Rhino.
In fact, the biggest reason for accidents and injuries while riding the Rhino came almost entirely from operator error; complete disregard for the manufacturer's recommended usage, and not using the proper safety equipment.
Good for Yamaha in helping stop some of the frivolous lawsuits that seem to run-amuck these days. Perhaps this will go a long way in preventing the SxS from going the way of the ATC in the 80's.
Image © Matt Finley
I daresay you have no idea what you are really saying by saying “good for Yamaha” and making generalizations about the public as a whole.
When the hundreds and hundreds of injuries and lawsuits started coming in, Yamaha should have immediately began retrofitting, recalling, whatever these models that are top heavy and have no doors. They did not, neither did the dealers until there were hundreds of injuries and deaths.
In every law suit it is up to the attorneys to prove fault and in this case they could not prove it. That doesn’t mean it does not exist (and with hundreds of lawsuits and injuries I would love to read this court case and see just what really happened).
Frivolous lawsuits? Ok, there will always be people like that but to generalize is just plain wrong. My 14 year old daughter, team captain in volleyball, lost the top of her foot while riding as a passenger (seatbelted) in one of these “safe” doorless rhinos. The medical bills are currently in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and it is unclear if she will ever walk or play volleyball again. I would give any amount of “compensation” money to make her whole and without pain. I am a nurse and I have never ever seen someone suffer as much as she has suffered.
Frivolous and money hungry? I would give any amount of money to have her be normal. However the human body is not like a car which you can take to a shop and fix up. Neither is the loss of function, her freshman year in high school, and her volleyball. Thus financial compensation is what the lawmakers of our country decided on for accident victims.
Posting this story is fine and ok but please be wary in the future to keep your generalizations to yourself and if not, that you have done your homework on the subject. It is not fair to your readers who depend on you for correct and impartial reporting and comments.
I daresay you have no idea what you are really saying by saying “good for Yamaha” and making generalizations about the public as a whole.
When the hundreds and hundreds of injuries and lawsuits started coming in, Yamaha should have immediately began retrofitting, recalling, whatever these models that are top heavy and have no doors. They did not, neither did the dealers until there were hundreds of injuries and deaths.
In every law suit it is up to the attorneys to prove fault and in this case they could not prove it. That doesn’t mean it does not exist (and with hundreds of lawsuits and injuries I would love to read this court case and see just what really happened).
Frivolous lawsuits? Ok, there will always be people like that but to generalize is just plain wrong. My 14 year old daughter, team captain in volleyball, lost the top of her foot while riding as a passenger (seatbelted) in one of these “safe” doorless rhinos. The medical bills are currently in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and it is unclear if she will ever walk or play volleyball again. I would give any amount of “compensation” money to make her whole and without pain. I am a nurse and I have never ever seen someone suffer as much as she has suffered.
Frivolous and money hungry? I would give any amount of money to have her be normal. However the human body is not like a car which you can take to a shop and fix up. Neither is the loss of function, her freshman year in high school, and her volleyball. Thus financial compensation is what the lawmakers of our country decided on for accident victims.
Posting this story is fine and ok but please be wary in the future to keep your generalizations to yourself and if not, that you have done your homework on the subject. It is not fair to your readers who depend on you for correct and impartial reporting.
Nicky Joubert Says – I agree with you – I have a now 19 year old daughter who has missed 2 years of her life and can still not walk un-aid. The pain she has suffered you cannot even begin to imagine, but thankfully she still has her right leg, but both legs are now very scared and deformed due to this injury. Accidents do happen but Yamaha could have taken notice at a much earlier time and saved many people from being injured and or even killed. My daughter was also a passenger – a life changing experience for her that will never be forgotten.
The majority of the lawsuits are not frivolous. My son was a passenger on a rhino back in the summer od 2007. Both bones in his lower right leg were severed and torn through the skin. After numerous surgeries the doctors saved his leg. He was bedridden for the better part of 2 years. He lost a good job with Mercedes Benz. He was properly seat belted in and never left the vehicle during the rollover. Forces involved with the rolling over of the rhino forced his lower leg out of the cabin where it was crushed by the bars.
At present Yamaha has fired their entire litigation staff and has told the new lawyers that money is no object in protecting their “good” name. Their pockets are much deeper than the average guys’ that the victims cannot win. god only knows what crap the lawyers are feeding juries. God forbid thta one sof their loved ones would ever have to go through what others have.