Florida Woman Sues Over Injuries Caused by Yamaha Rhino Utility ATV

OCALA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against Cypress, Calif.-based Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA, over injuries 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, it flipped over onto its right side, pinning Ms. Jollimore under the vehicle. The accident left Ms. 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.

“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 Ms. 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 Mr. Ammons has filed on behalf of people who have been injured by the vehicle. Last week, The Ammons Law Firm filed suit in Arizona in a similar case, and the firm 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, the narrow track width combined with the vehicle’s height makes the Rhino prone to roll over and pin occupants underneath. Last month, two 11-year-old girls died in Mississippi in another incident of Rhino rollover. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating accidents, injuries and deaths involving the Rhino and other such vehicles.

Newer models of the Rhino include a sticker from Yamaha that warns that the vehicle may tip over even on flat, open ground.

Mr. Ammons is an attorney with a national practice that focuses on the prosecution of automobile product liability cases, including vehicle rollovers, fuel-fed fires, crashworthiness cases, and tire failures.

More information is available at http://www.yamaha-rhinolawyer.com or http://www.ammonslaw.com.