A Texas appeals court has ordered Yamaha Motor Corp. to litigate a wrongful death case involving a 13 year old boy who was killed while riding a Yamaha Rhino all terrain vehicle (ATV) – also called a utility terrain vehicle (UTV). Plaintiffs allege that the four-wheeled Rhino was defectively designed and dangerous due to its narrow wheel base, high center of gravity, lack of safety features and propensity to roll over. Although Yamaha did everything it could to avoid a trial, the court refused to let them off the hook.

Yamaha Tries To Avoid Litigation

In this Texas wrongful death lawsuit, 13 year old Forest Ray was riding in a Yamaha Rhino when it rolled over and caused him to suffer fatal injuries. Yamaha tried to avoid litigation by forcing the family to arbitrate their claim. The company filed a motion claiming that it only recently found out that it could have arbitrated the claim. A lower court refused to grant its motion, Yamaha appealed and now an appellate court has upheld the lower court's ruling. The trial will begin on August 17th, 2009 – and others are scheduled to begin in June of 2010.

MDL getting underway

The multidistrict litigation (MDL) concerning the Rhino has been consolidated in the Western District Court of Kentucky and is expected to get underway in June of 2010. MDLs consolidate similar lawsuits for the sake of discovery purposes and then send the cases back to their original jurisdictions if a settlement is not reached beforehand. There are approximately 300 outstanding product liability or wrongful death lawsuits pending against Yamaha over the Rhino. Most of those lawsuits make similar allegations against the company.

Defective design / Dangerous product

Most lawsuits against Yamaha allege that the company:

• manufactured and marketed a defectively designed and dangerous product
• failed to adequately test the Rhino
• failed to install necessary safety features on earlier models
• knew that the Rhino was unsafe, but failed to warn consumers

If you've been injured due to the Yamaha Rhino, contact an experienced Yamaha Rhino attorney to discuss your situation and evaluate your options. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.