The faulty design was NOT an A_C_C_I_D_E_N_T!
It was a design my My Kato and Mr Suzuki the 2 main engineers

The reason my title says "rookie" is because I do not own a side by side, I do not ride them. My 10 year old daughter was TAKEN for a ride without any parential knowledge. She was wearing her seat belt, according to the police they were going about 12 to 15 mph. The driver made a left turn and it tipped over on here killing her.   Now you know why I am a rookie.

1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1225761 … 3Dcomments     (FRONT PAGE of Wall Street Journal)

2) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= … z76lCkbfXA    (Bloomberg Report)

3) http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/265697 (Arizonia Star)

4) Tomorrow (11/7/08) "Good Morning America" TV show

The driver too IS named in the suit. The things I said about him (his experience etc) I was just giving factual information about him since I was asked of the facts. My words were "He has a street bike and he CLAIMS to be an experienced atv rider" The reason I put "claims" in capital letters is because I do not know.....that is his claim. I cannot swear how good, how experienced, or how truthful.

We were at a friends house who has 50 acres of FLAT field. He farms it. It had been harversted, very very small stubble (2-3" high) No ruts. There were about 40 people or so there, (bon fire & hot dog roast). We did NOT go to the friends house with the intent or invitation to "Ride". So all our saftey gear (helmets, boots, chest protector, shin guards, elbow gards, goggles) were left at home. The wife got the Rhino out to give an older gentleman a ride around the field. Gradually, a few more asked for rides. Over the hours of the afternoon, there were rides given off and on. This friend has 2 barns (one hosted the food). People were in and out of the house, the barns, and the property. Kids playing tag, horse shoes, hide & seek. There was NO drugs or booze, or beer....ZERO. Eventually a 22 year old man (who I had NEVER met) took a drive. He has a street bike and he CLAIMS to be an experienced atv rider. As I said I had never met him. He went for a drive and my daughter asked him for a ride. She did NOT ask my permission, I was in another part of the property when this seemingly small event happened. The driver did not say, which ones are your parents? Check with them.....  The Rhino owner was not monitering who was riding with who.  He took her for a ride, he was going about 10 - 15 mph, made a sweapng right hand turn, it started to flip ON him, he cut the wheel back to other way and it went from being on the left 2 wheels, to tipping the other way on the right 2 wheels. Somehow the roll bar landed on her head crushing her skull. She lived on life support for 24 hours. I know there are selfish sue happy people out there. My wife and I and not either one of those. (Since she was literally brain dead, the hospital people approached us about organ donation, as hard as it was we agreed. Now THREE kids are alive because of my daughter.)

The witnesses say she had a seat belt on, the driver says she did not. I do not know.....I do not the police came, made reports and grilled him (I was on my way to the hospital.) He told the police she did not have a seat belt on (remember he was looking down the barrel of a gun). The police, accicdent reconstruction speciialests, proscuting attorney, and grand jury all reached the same conclusion. There was NO RECKLESSNESS on his part. There many indivdules who played a part in bringing this tradigty about.  People have aske me why I was not watching her. Have you ever been to a large picnic? Do you watch you kids 100% of the time? Every second? When you go to a friends house do you check the food before your kids eat it to make sure it is not bad? You have a measure of trust that your friend will not let something happen to you while you are at their house.

There are the details. The long and the short, the good and the bad.

I personally think lawyers should NOT advertise.  I personally HATE these guys ads you see late at night on TV. Or people who try to sue anyone for anything. I also think people should take responsibility for their own actions. Yes there are Yahoos who are drunk, others doing WILD things, we have all seen them. We have seen them tip over and beer come falling out. We have seen them push their vehicles well beyond the limit. Those people are dangerous to everyone.

But.......all the suits against Yamaha are because the DESIGN is faulty AND Yamaha Execs were warned by their people in the design process. The wheels are too close together, it is too high off the ground, the rear wheels are locked together (no slip diff) there is no padding on the roll bar. Their SSF (static stability factor) is way too low, it would NEVER pass in a SUV, jeep or car. http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/saf … 98RCRD#ssf

I am NOT a lawyer, but I can prove that what I am writing is 100% true.

In the past 3 years there have been OVER 75 suits against Yamaha for the Rhino rolling over, many or on the Orange County Clerk of Courts web site:  https://ocapps.occourts.org/CivilPub/Di … se_src_dtl    Do a search under “business” for “Yamaha”.

NOT ONE SUIT HAS YAMAHA MADE A MOTION TO THROW OUT OR HAVE DISMISSED. EVERY SUIT IS EITHER IN PROGRESS OR HAS BEEN SETTLED, IN FAVOR IF THE INJURED PERSON.

The real interesting thing is this.......EVERY suit against Yamaha, they (Yamaha) gets a “Protective Order”. This order protects Yamaha when they turn over documents to the opposing lawyer. The documents HAVE to be returned or destroyed with in 30 days after the suit is finished. Some of the documents are the amount and degree of testing Yamaha did (if any). Some of the documents are testimony from the engineers in the research & development stages. There is testimony from about 20 different Yamaha executives with damaging comments, including Yamaha’ in house lawyer Roy Watson. Also included are any possible safety features designed but not installed (like doors). This is a fraction of what is in there. IF Yamaha is so squeaky clean, why not fight these suits and set  a pattern? Their current pattern is to settle these cases AND to keep their documents quite. Why file motions to keep SELECT documents secret?

Two engineering firms http://www.renfroe.com/  and http://www.sealcorp.com/atv-utility/atv … ing.htmlin have proven that IF Yamaha spaced the wheels 4” further apart instead of tipping over at 12 mph, it will tip over at 30 MPH. (Call them and ask)

The present of Yamaha of France Jean Claude Olivier (an accomplished racer) tipped over and broke HIS leg.......on flat ground. Then he made every Rhino that came in to France have doors (early design, leg minders, diagonal like bars).

Jeep was sued because they had NO padding on the Roll Bars, they started padding them now. The SFI foundation has written roll bar padding standards (originally for cars and jeeps). Specification 45.1; 45.1.1; & 45.2.1: written 2/2/1995 was written because of the Jeep deal. Yamaha has chosen to ignore it. The roll bars have landed on atleast 13 peoples heads killing them. http://www.sfifoundation.com/

Yamaha says do NOT drive the Rhino on black top (or cement), they also say to be very careful on FLAT ground going SLOW speeds. When, where, and how are you to ride them. Yes, Yamaha has admitted they they do tip over on FLAT GROUND AT SLOW SPEEDS.

The reason I know all of this is because my 10 year old daughters skull was crushed (LITERALLY) when a Rhino she was a passenger in tipped. The roll bar landed on her head. The police determined the driver was only going 10 to 12 MPH. They reconstructed the scene, I have the pictures of the land and tire indentations, he was making a gradual turn. This was investigated VERY throually for about 2 months by sheriffs, accident reconstruction specialists, and prosecuting attorney, and grand jury. The conclusion was he was not being reckless in any way.

I personally have talked with the parents of 12 kids who have been killed the EXACT same way. When you see your 10 year old unconscious on a field and thick blood is pouring out of her ears and nose. Then when 24 hours later you have to allow the hospital to turn off the life support and explain to her 14 yr old and 8 yr old brothers that this is the end of their sister, you want answers. When this happens to your family you dig, and dig and dig until either you give up because there is nothing to find OR you find answers.

As I said I feel we all need to be accountable for our actions.......including Yamaha.

I am NOT a real mechanic.....I know enought to get in trouble. But I heard the Rhino does NOT have a rear differential. Instead it had a "spool". Is this true? Why? What is the difference? Is one better than the other?

THANKS!!!