In March the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a repair program for Yamaha Rhino models after numerous complaints of rollover accidents resulting in serious injuries and death. The Rhino is the latest vehicle to be identified in multiple rollover accidents.
Recently, a Los Angeles court ruled in favor of a California man who is left unable to move his arms or legs after a rollover highway accident involving a Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle. The court awarded $21.1 million in damages finding the vehicle’s high center of gravity made it prone to rollovers and it’s roof crushed too easily.
Also a federal jury ordered Ford to pay over $18 million in damages to a quadriplegic man who was injured when his passenger van rolled over after skidding off an icy highway. A defective seat belt latch mechanism caused the man’s head to slam into the crushed roof.
In both cases the vehicle’s manufacturer blamed the driver and denied its designs were defective. Those arguments obviously did not prevail in either court.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
