The safety defects of some Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs), including the Yamaha Rhino, are causing a mounting toll of death and severe injury to users, warns a February 26, 2009 report entitled Citizen Report on UTV Vehicle Hazards issued by a group of safety advocates and victims. The authors of the report include three individuals who suffered catastrophic injuries while driving or riding in the Yamaha Rhino as well as parents of two children who died in horrific accidents involving the Yamaha Rhino.

The report calls for significant measures to undertaken to improve UTV safety, including:

• Minimum Occupant Containment Standards: The report explains that it is essential for the safety of occupants that they remain inside the vehicle during a tip over and rollover accident. The report requests that the NHTSA, CPSC, ROHVA and/or manufacturers establish tests that evaluate and ensure adequate occupant containment for legs, arms, hands and heads in rollovers and rollovers, standards which all UTV vehicles must pass before being sold.
• Supplementary Safety Restraints: According to the authors of the report, the safety envelope of UTV vehicles must be substantially improved through supplementary restraints that prevent excursion of the feet/legs, hands/arms, and torso. The report calls for the installation of partial doors, roll cage cushions and netting on all UTV vehicles.
• Effective Seat Belt Restraint Systems: The report seeks all UTV vehicles comply with the standards set forth in the United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to ensure that occupants are not ejected from the vehicle during a tip over or rollover. The report charges that one of the reasons for the large number of fatalities and injuries associated with the Yamaha Rhino is due to a deficient seat belt system.
• Redesigned Roll Cages With Roll Cage Padding: In many cases, when occupants have been ejected from their UTV vehicle, they have suffered a fatal or catastrophic injury from being struck by the vehicle’s heavy, unpadded, steel roll cage. The report calls for moving of the roll cages further from the occupants, re-designing them with minimal crush points and adding padding.
• Improved Stability And Handling: The report’s authors call upon NHTSA, CPSC, ROHVA and/or manufacturers to establish stability and handling standards, including minimum resistance to rollover, for UTV vehicles in order to substantially reduce the likelihood of tip over accidents.

The report also contains safety recommendations specific to the Yahama Rhino.