Lawsuit Over Yamaha Rhino Rollover Accident Results in $317K Verdict

A Georgia jury has awarded $317,000 in a lawsuit filed by a man whose leg was injured during a rollover accident with the Yamaha Rhino ATV. The award is the first plaintiff’s verdict out of hundreds of pending lawsuits over Yamaha Rhino accidents filed throughout the United States on behalf of riders who allegedly suffered severe or fatal injuries as a result of a design defect that makes the ATV prone to rollover.

Roger and Glenda McTaggart filed the personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha after Roger McTaggart’s Rhino tipped over on him during a right turn, causing injuries to his left leg. According to the Yamaha Rhino lawsuit, McTaggart was wearing a seatbelt and was driving at low speed on level, grassy terrain when the rollover accident occurred.

As a result of his Yamaha Rhino rollover accident, McTaggart incurred medical expenses of about $13,500.00. Following a two week trial in Georgia state court, a Gwinnett County jury awarded $317,000 in compensatory damages.

The allegations raised at trial echo those that will be presented throughout other cases involved in the Yamaha Rhino litigation.

Plaintiffs claim that design problems with the Yamaha Rhino make the vehicle prone to rollover due to the combination of a small wheel base, narrow turning radius, high center of gravity and powerful engine. They also claim that the ATV, which has been found to rollover on flat surfaces at speeds as low as 13 miles per hour, lacked safety features which would reduce the risk of injury in a rollover accident.

The only other Yamaha Rhino case to go to trial ended in a defense verdict in August. In that Yamaha Rhino trial, which involved fatal injuries sustained by a 13-year old boy who was operating the off-road vehicle without a seatbelt or helmet, the jury found that design problems with the ATV were not responsible for the crash because of several after-market modifications were made to the vehicle.

All federal lawsuits against Yamaha Rhino are currently centralized for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, before Judge Jennifer B. Coffman in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The first Yamaha Rhino trials in the MDL, which are known as “bellwether” cases because they are used to gauge how jurors will respond to evidence that will be presented throughout the litigation, were scheduled to begin in October 2010. However, according to recent court documents, the first trial has been pushed back to January 2011.