Georgia Injury Law Blog

The Georgia Court Of Appeals has reversed a jury verdict in favor of a Yamaha Rhino rider, who suffered a serious personal injury during an off-road vehicle accident. The victim, a gravedigger from Georgia had been riding his Yamaha Rhino off-highway vehicle when the vehicle flipped over. He suffered serious leg injuries.

A court had ordered Yamaha to pay damages of $317,000. However, the Georgia Court of Appeals has now reversed the verdict. According to the appeals court's decision, unlike a car accident, the victim had assumed the risk of injuries when he purchased the off-road vehicle in 2006. With this and to the dismay of many personal injury lawyers, Yamaha's unblemished Rhino injury lawsuit record continues. The company has continually won lawsuits arising out injuries and fatalities resulting from accidents involving its off-road vehicle. However, the company has also entered into undisclosed settlements with several injured people, so the unblemished track record isn’t that clean. Those settlements are confidential, however.

The Yamaha Rhino was introduced in 2003, and quickly became popular among a growing generation of off-road vehicle fans. These off-road vehicles are different from all-terrain vehicles, in that they do include some additional safety features like safety belts. However, consumer safety groups soon found that the Yamaha Rhino was linked to a number of accidents ending in injuries. Some of the injuries that have resulted from these off-road vehicle accidents have been severe. Yamaha Rhino riders, who were caught or trapped when the off-road vehicle flipped over, have suffered from severe crushing injuries, and arm and leg injuries. There have also been amputations and severe limbs. The Rhino weighs about 1,100 pounds, and any accident that results in the vehicle flipping over and landing on a person, can cause serious injuries.

The number of persons filing lawsuits against Yamaha over the Rhino off-road vehicle has increased. The lawsuits claimed that the Rhino is inherently defective. The off-road vehicle is susceptible to rollovers even when it was traveling at low speeds. Even Yamaha Rhino riders who were riding their off-road vehicle on relatively flat roads were injured in accidents. Additionally, the vehicle offered no protection against crushing injuries or amputations when limbs were trapped underneath the vehicle. Yamaha responded to criticism by saying that its vehicles were safely designed, and that these accidents and injuries were the result of riders’ failure to follow all safety instructions and use the vehicle according to manufacturer specifications.

Posted By Robert Katz In Product Liability , Rollover Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that electronic stability control systems electronic stability control systems have reduced car accident wrongful deaths by as much as 18%. The agency studied the effectiveness of these systems that are now popular on so many automobiles, in preventing fatal auto accidents. The researchers studied fatal car accident statistics between 1997 and 2009, to gauge the effectiveness of electronic stability control systems in preventing crashes.

These systems have become very popular, and are now available in a number of standard models. In 2005, less than 20% of automobiles came equipped with electronic stability control systems. Thanks to new legislation, automobiles from the 2012 model year onwards will have to come with electronic stability control systems as standard features. This is a change that personal injury lawyers advocated for many years.

Electronic stability control devices come with sensors that detect when a vehicle is beginning to flip over. When that happens, the system kicks into gear, adjusting breaking power to one or more wheels to allow the motorist to control the vehicle. Electronic stability control systems are designed to reduce the high number of car accident deaths every year that can be traced to rollovers. 

Rollovers are some of the most serious of all auto accidents, and often result in deaths or catastrophic personal injuries. Some kinds of vehicles like sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks have a higher center of gravity, and therefore are at a much higher risk of a rollover accident. Passengers in a rollover accident are at risk of being completely or partially ejected from their vehicle with devastating consequences. Additionally, during a rollover, the roof of the vehicle may collapse or be crushed, further exposing occupants to serious head injuries. 

Posted By Robert Katz In Auto Accident Claims , Rollover Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

The role of car safety seats in preventing injuries to children in an auto accident is one that no Atlanta injury lawyer would deny. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 1988 and 1994, the use of car seats led to a 73% drop in infant wrongful deaths and a 54% drop in car accident related injuries in children between the age of one and four. However, not all car safety seats may have been tested and approved to be safe for your child.

The Washington Post warns parents against assuming that the car seat that they're using for their child will protect them from injuries in the event of an accident. The seats that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates are only tested for protection in a front impact collision. The seats are not regulated against side-impact, rear end or rollover accidents. This is in spite of the fact that the risk of injuries and fatalities is often much higher in a rollover accident or a side-impact accident than a front impact collision.  

One of the reasons why the federal agency has failed to regulate the effectiveness of car seats in these kinds of accidents is the lack of proper-sized crash test dummies. That is also the reason why the agency has failed to regulate the safety of large-sized car seats that are used for toddlers above 65 pounds. There's a growing class of overweight children who are too heavy for infant car seats, and too young for seat belts. Car seat manufacturers have been marketing larger-sized car seats for children of this size, but the NHTSA has failed to regulate the effectiveness of these seats. One of the reasons has been the failure to develop a crash test dummy of an appropriate size.

As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we know the kind of devastating injuries that can result when children are involved in accidents. Auto accidents are the number one cause of accidental death for children between the age of 1 and 14. Many of these deaths could be prevented if the child is restrained in appropriate car seats. Unfortunately, the NHTSA's car seat testing processes do not include all car safety seats or all types of accidents thereby preventing parents from making an informed choice.

Posted By Robert Katz In Auto Accident Claims , Children , Rollover Accidents , Seatbelts , Wrongful Death | 0 Comments Permalink