Yamaha Motor Company Inc. has recently been the subject on a number of lawsuits involving Yamaha Rhino ATV rollovers

Yamaha Motor Company Inc. has recently been the subject on a number of lawsuits involving Yamaha Rhino ATV rollovers.  These side by side off road vehicles have a dangerous propensity to roll over and injure the riders.  These ATVs are defective and unreasonably dangerous.  They are excessively prone to tip over even on flat or slight grade terrain even while a safe turn is being conducted.

Injuries from these rollovers have included minor injuries from bumps and bruises to loss of limbs and even death.

It has been learned that the principal engineers at Yamaha which designed these ATVs, were well aware that the Rhino easily could tip and or roll over and were very likely to cause serious injuries when they did.

The Yamaha Rhino entered the United States market in 2003.  Since that time, over 100,000 of the dangerous ATVs have been sold.

The Rhino has a narrow track width coupled with a very high center of gravity. This dramatically decreases the vehicle’s stability.  The ATV is also designed with a very heavy roll cage which also makes this dangerous vehicle more unstable and increases the ATV’s chances of a tip or roll over.

Yamaha also failed to adequately test the Rhino before it was sold to the American people.  The company never even tested the off road vehicle to determine if it was more at risk to roll over at a medium speed turn while on flat ground.

In 2006, Yamaha sent Rhino owners additional warning labels which described the rollover risks.

In 2007, Yamaha sent Rhino owners notice that it would install doors and additional passenger handholds in the Rhinos that were sold during and after 2003.  These additional safety features are included on new Yamaha Rhinos and installed for free on the older models.