Florida Woman Sues Yamaha for Injuries from ATV Rollover

A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against Cypress, Calif.-based Yamaha Motor Corp. over injuries she says she sustained when the Yamaha Rhino utility ATV she was riding in rolled over and trapped her underneath.

The suit was filed in the Circuit Court for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Marion County, Fla.

Rachel Jollimore, 38, of Ocala, Fla., was riding in a Yamaha Rhino on July 7, 2007, in Silver Springs, Fla., when the driver attempted to negotiate a simple turn on relatively flat terrain. Though the Rhino was traveling at a very low speed, according to Jollimore, it flipped over onto its right side, pinning her under the vehicle.

The accident left Jollimore with a severe brain injury and required doctors to place a permanent stent in her brain to allow fluid to drain into her stomach, according to her lawyers.

“Unfortunately, what happened to Rachel is not something that’s out of the ordinary,” says attorney Rob Ammons of The Ammons Law Firm in Houston, who represents Jollimore, her husband and four minor children. “The Yamaha Rhino is a dangerous vehicle and Yamaha knows it.”

The Florida lawsuit is just the latest Yamaha Rhino case Ammons has filed on behalf of people who claim to have been injured by the vehicle. Last week, the law firm filed suit in Arizona in a similar case, and the firm said it expects to file other Yamaha Rhino cases in other jurisdictions as well.

Yamaha introduced the Rhino, a side-by-side utility ATV narrow enough to fit into the bed of a large pickup truck, in 2003. However, according to critics, the narrow track width combined with the vehicle’s height makes the Rhino prone to roll over and pin occupants underneath.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating accidents, injuries and deaths involving the Rhino and other such vehicles, according to Ammons.

Source: The Ammons Law Firm
www.ammonslaw.com