News Articles on the Yamaha Rhino Rollovers
and Recall |
October 9, 2009 |
Wall Street Journal, "CPSC Staff Calls for Mandatory Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV) Standards"
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff has recommended that the agency set mandatory rules to regulate recreational off-highway vehicles, signaling that regulators may seek to take a tougher line on consumer-safety issues under the Obama administration. More...
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August 4, 2009 |
CBS News, "Yamaha's Rhino: For Some A Deadly Ride"
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Exclusive CBS News Investigation Finds 59 Deaths, Hundreds of Injuries Linked to Yamaha's Off-Road Vehicle
The Rhino was a hit, with more than 150,000 sold after its introduction [in] 2003. But the vehicle, which looks like a cross between a golf cart with attitude, and an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV, is at the center of a legal firestorm. At least 59 riders have been killed in Rhino accidents, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. More than 440 wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits are pending, and Yamaha has settled others. Many stem from rollovers in which drivers or passengers fell or were flung through the open door space to the ground, then smashed by the 1,100 pound vehicle. Adults and children as young as 3 years old have suffered gruesome injuries, including amputated limbs and crushed legs, arms or heads. More...
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July 10, 2009 |
News Courier (AL), "Mother of infant killed in ATV accident"
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Karen Abernathy of Elkmont held back tears Friday as she described her daughter as "outgoing" and "free-spirited." Abernathy's 21-year-old daughter, Jessica Lynne Braithwaite, mother of a young son, was killed at about 7:40 Thursday night in an all-terrain vehicle crash on Spence Cave Road, seven miles west of Ardmore. More...
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June 26, 2009 |
Grand Haven Tribune (MI), "ORV driver loses control, runs into tree"
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The driver of an off-road vehicle was hospitalized and her passenger was injured Thursday evening after she lost control and struck a tree. According to Lt. Mike Brookhouse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, 29-year-old Melissa VanBeveren of Holland was driving the ORV on the property located at 18705 14th Avenue in Wright Township when she lost control, went into a ravine and struck a large tree. More...
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May 29, 2009 |
News 9 (Albany, NY), "Repairs needed for same four-wheeler involved in fatal crash"
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New details have emerged following the accident that claimed the life of a 13-year-old boy in Knox involving a four-wheeler. We've learned that a "repair program" was announced in March for the 2009 Yamaha Rhino 4x4 that James Wyatt Spencer was riding when it flipped over on Thursday. More...
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May 29, 2009 |
News 9 (Albany, NY), "Teen dies in ATV accident"
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A 13-year-old boy has died after crashing his ATV. The Albany County Sheriff's office says James Wyatt Spencer, of Knox, rolled over his ATV in a field behind his house and became trapped. The accident happened at around 4 p.m. on Thursday. More...
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May 29, 2009 |
Fox 23 News (Albany, NY), "New details about vehicle in fatal Knox Rhino accident"
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We're learning new information about the vehicle involved in the accident that killed a 13-year-old Knox boy Thursday night. It turns out the government has warned about the safety of the utility terrain vehicles, or UTVs, telling owners not to use them without a special fix. More...
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May 27, 2009 |
The Orange County Register, "Garden Grove man killed, 5 children injured in off-road crash"
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A Garden Grove man who was not wearing a seat belt was killed in an off-road vehicle crash in Moreno Valley that injured five children – including three of his own – under the age of 9, officials said today. None of the passengers was wearing a helmet and a 1-year-old was riding in his father’s lap, California Highway Patrol officials said. More...
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April 1, 2009 |
LA Times, Yamaha recalls Rhino off-road vehicles in wake of fatal accidents
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Yamaha Motor Corp. USA suspended sales of its Rhino off-road vehicles Tuesday and launched a repair program after the Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that they had been involved in more than 50 accidents resulting in 46 deaths and hundreds of injuries. About 145,000 Rhinos have been sold since the two-seat "side-by-side" vehicle, which looks like a small dune buggy, was introduced in 2003. Yamaha will make free repairs on Rhino 450, 660 and 700 models that will make them safer and less prone to rolling over, the commission said in a statement released in cooperation with Cypress-based Yamaha, the U.S. arm of the Japanese manufacturer. More...
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April 1, 2009 |
Bloomberg, "Yamaha Motor Sued in Canada Over Rhino Tip-Over Accidents"
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Yamaha Motor Co., the world's second-largest motorcycle maker, has been sued in Canada for selling an all-terrain vehicle that is allegedly prone to tipping over and has been linked to 46 deaths in the U.S. More...
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April 1, 2009 |
Press Release, Canadian Class Action Commenced Against Yamaha for Rhino Tip-Over Accidents
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A proposed national class action claim has been issued with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of all persons in Canada who suffered personal injury following tip-over accidents involving Yamaha Rhino Recreational Utility Vehicles, and family members of those injured Canadians. More...
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March 31, 2009 |
National Press Release, Authors of Yamaha Rhino Hazard Report Praise CPSC for Fast Response, Urge Additional Safety Measures
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) call today for repairs and suspension of operations of Yamaha Rhino off-road recreational vehicles drew immediate praise from a group of safety advocates who less than a month ago, sent the agency a comprehensive analysis detailing the Rhino's hazards. More...
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March 31, 2009 |
National Press Release, Yamaha Motor Corp. Offers Free Repair For 450, 660, and 700 Model Rhino Vehicles;
CPSC advises consumers not to use the off-road vehicles until repaired
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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A., of Cypress, Calif., is announcing a free repair program to address safety issues with all Rhino 450, 660, and 700 model off-highway recreational vehicles. Yamaha has also agreed to voluntarily suspend sale of these models immediately until repaired. Consumers should immediately stop using these popular recreational vehicles until the repair is installed by a dealer. More...
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March 11, 2009 |
National Press Release, Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman Announce Federal Court Has Coordinated Growing Numbers of Lawsuits Alleging Yamaha Rhino is a Dangerous and Defective Vehicle
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Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman announced today that all federal litigation arising out of the mounting toll of death and severe injuries to occupants of the Yamaha Rhino Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) has been coordinated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer B. Coffman of the Western District of Kentucky. More...
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February 27, 2009 |
National Press Release, "Victims and Consumer Safety Advocates Issue Report on Safety Hazards of Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs), Including the Yamaha Rhino"
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The safety defects of some Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs), also called "Side-by-Side" vehicles, are causing a mounting toll of death and severe injury to users, warns a report issued today by a group of safety advocates and victims. The report calls for basic changes in the design of these rollover-prone off-road vehicles to substantially increase their ability to protect occupants in the event of rollover accidents. More...
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February 18, 2009 |
Southeast Texas Record, "Galveston suit blames Rhino ATV for boy's injuries from rollover"
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A Santa Fe couple is seeking $3 million in damages from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. after their son was injured in a Rhino ATV rollover more than a year ago. Warren and Terry Aldous filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brandon Aldous against Yamaha and numerous other businesses. Court papers say Brandon Aldous was riding a doorless Yamaha Rhino ATV near his parents' residence on June 2, 2007, when the vehicle rolled over as the boy made a turn. Brandon was pinned underneath the ATV, but his mother and a neighbor were able to pull him out. The boy was then taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where physicians determined he suffered severe injuries to his left leg. More...
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January 9, 2009 |
National Press Release (California), "Safety Flaws In Yamaha Rhino "Changed My Life Forever," Californian Charges In Latest Personal Injury Lawsuit Against Yamaha"
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Robert J. Nelson, of the national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that Troy Bithell of Fontana, California, filed today a personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corporation. Bithell alleges that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side lacks safety features necessary to protect occupants from injury in an accident and is dangerously unstable. The complaint was filed in California state court in Orange County, where Yamaha has its U.S. headquarters. Learn more...
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December 11, 2008 |
Law360, New York, "CPSC Mulls Standards As Rhino Plaintiffs Seek MDL"
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As the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission considers new standards for Yamaha Motor Corp. USA's Rhino off-road vehicle and other currently unregulated "utility terrain vehicles," plaintiffs suing over injuries they blame on the Rhino have asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize their cases. The Rhino has caught the attention of the CPSC, a spokeswoman for the commission told Law360 on Thursday. "We can confirm that the CPSC is investigating the Yamaha Rhino. There have been a number of incidents and that is a product we are looking into right now," CPSC spokeswoman Sonia Hayes-Pleasant said. More...
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November 7, 2008 |
Law360, "Yamaha Facing More Suits Over Rhino Accidents"
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Days after it was revealed that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was investigating the Yamaha Rhino off-road vehicle, two new lawsuits have been filed against Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. alleging that design flaws in the vehicle make it dangerously unstable. One of the suits was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and involved an 11-year-old girl injured in a Rhino accident, while the other, filed in state court in Georgia, involved a 47-year-old former Air Force captain. There currently more than 200 lawsuits in state and federal court over the Rhino, and more than 30 deaths related to the vehicle have been reported. More...
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November 7, 2008 |
Press Release: Tennessee and Georgia Residents Allege Flaws in Design of Yamaha Rhino Led to Rollover Accidents Causing Disfigurement, Amputation and Other Severe Injuries
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Nashville, TN, November 7, 2008 - Mark P. Chalos of the national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that Greg and Teresa Mitchell of Clarkville, Tennessee filed on behalf of their 11-year old daughter a personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corporation. The Mitchells charge that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side is a dangerously unstable and defective all terrain vehicle ("ATV"). The complaint was filed yesterday in Federal court in Nashville. More...
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October 21, 2008 |
Memphis Commercial Appeal, "Families, schools mourn girls killed in Yamaha Rhino ATV crash"
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The families, friends and schools of two 11-year-old girls killed over the weekend in an ATV accident struggled to deal with their deaths Monday. Emily Bates and Lauren Dilworth were killed shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday when the Yamaha Rhino four-wheeler they were riding in flipped as it went off the pavement in the Southern Trails subdivision off Miss. 305 in the Lewisburg community near Olive Branch. More...
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October 1, 2008 |
Press Release: Northern Virginian Alleges Stability Defects In Yamaha Rhino Caused Accident Resulting In Crush Injury to Foot
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Lieff Cabraser announced that Julie Wright, age 27, from Culpeper, Virginia, late yesterday afternoon filed a personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha Motor C., Ltd. Wright charges that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side is a dangerously unstable and defective all terrain vehicle. The lawsuit was filed in Federal court in Los Angeles, where Yamaha's U.S. headquarters are located. More...
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September 26, 2008 |
Press Release: Southern Californian Alleges Stability Defects In Yamaha Rhino Caused Accident Resulting In Amputation Of Three Fingers
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Lieff Cabraser announced that Michael Warner, age 42, from Highland, California, filed a personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corporation in California Superior Court in Orange County. The lawsuit charges that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side is a dangerously unstable and defective all terrain vehicle. More...
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August 15, 2008 |
Press Release: Defective Yamaha Rhino Side By Side "Had Devastating Impact" On Life, Californian Charges In Personal Injury Lawsuit
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Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that Scott Smith, age 42, from Twain Harte, California, filed a personal injury lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corporation in California Superior Court in Orange County. The lawsuit charges that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side is a dangerously unstable and defective all terrain vehicle (“ATV”).
On August 20, 2006, Smith was a passenger in a 2006 Yamaha Rhino that tipped over at a low rate of speed. Smith suffered severe injuries to his right leg, and was left permanently impaired. More...
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July 31, 2008 |
Press Release: Personal Injury Lawsuits Charge Yamaha Rhino Side By Side ATV Is Dangerously Unstable
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San Francisco, CA, July 31, 2008 -- Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that two Californians represented by the law firm yesterday filed separate personal injury lawsuits against Yamaha Motor Corporation. Each plaintiff suffered injuries in accidents while riding the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side all terrain vehicle ("ATV"). The plaintiffs allege that the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side contains multiple design flaws rendering it dangerously unstable and unduly prone to tipping and rolling over even when driven on flat ground at low speeds. These defects include a top-heavy design resulting in a high center of gravity, and a dangerously narrow track width. Together, these design flaws make the Rhino unduly prone to tip and roll over. More...
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June 28, 2008 |
Press
Republican (New York), "10-year-old
saves dad's life in flipped Yamaha Rhino
ATV"
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Lifting up an all-terrain
vehicle, running almost a mile and driving
a large diesel truck sound like the actions
of a grown man or woman. However, it was these
feats that 11-year-old Ryan Mills accomplished
last year to save his father's life. On April
9, 2007, Ryan, who was 10 at the time, was
riding with his father, Albert Mills, on a
Yamaha Rhino ATV through the woods near their
home in Clintonville. The vehicle flipped on
a turn and landed on top of Albert, pinning
one of his legs underneath. More...
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May 28, 2008 |
Southeast Texas News, "Suit
alleges Yamaha 'Rhino' ATV unreasonably
dangerous"
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While riding as a passenger in a
Yamaha Rhino on a relatively flat terrain,
Bossier City resident Ryan Rogers was injured
when the ATV rolled toward the passenger side.
Alleging the ATV was unreasonably dangerous,
Ryan and Janison Rogers filed suit against
Yamaha USA, Yamaha Manufacturing and Yamaha
Motor on May 27 in the Marshall division of
the Eastern District of Texas. More...
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May 16, 2008 |
3TV (Phoenix, AZ), "Teen dies in Yamaha Rhino ATV rollover accident"
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A 15-year-old boy has died of injuries he suffered during an off-road-vehicle rollover Friday afternoon in the far Northwest Valley. Maricopa County Sheriff's Investigators said the boy was among four teens riding on the small four-wheeled Yamaha vehicle called a Rhino when it overturned near 102nd Avenue and Jomax Road at about 4:00pm. The teen was taken to a local hospital where he died of his injuries. The other three teenage boys were not seriously hurt.
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February 25, 2008 |
IV Press Online, "Two Young Persons Killed Yesterday by Yamaha Rhinos at Same Dunes"
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The names of victims involved in two separate fatal crashes that occurred within hours of each other at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area were released Monday. Yucaipa resident Stephanie Ann Katin, 26, was killed Saturday after being partially ejected from a rented Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicle that slid sideways down a 30-foot sand dune. Katin sat in the right front passenger seat. The vehicle lost traction when Katin’s 29-year-old husband, Paul, turned left and tried driving it down the dune after reaching its crest, California Highway Patrol Officer Gil Caldera said. More...
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November 29, 2007 |
KSBY TV News, "Target
of Lawsuits: Off-road vehicle Paso Robles
child killed was driving"
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The off-road
vehicle, the Yamaha Rhino, that Ashlyn Vargas
was driving when she was killed Thanksgiving
Day is the subject of lawsuits nationwide. "They
have a high center of gravity and they are
top heavy and they do have a well demonstrated
propensity for rolling over," said Attorney
Fred Pritzker. More...
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November 23, 2007 |
KSBY TV News, "Tragedy
on Thanksgiving: ATV accident claims life
of 12 year old"
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The
Thanksgiving holiday takes a tragic turn
when a 12 year old girl dies in an ATV accident.It
happened near Highway 58 in the California
Valley, just before noon Thursday. Investigators
say Ashlyn Vargas was thrown from the vehicle
in the accident and the ATV rolled on top
of her. More...
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| November
20, 2007 |
Tucson
Citizen, "Serious
injuries climb for kids driving ATVs; Hospitalizations
are up 70% in 4-year span"
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When ATV racer
Brandon Leach got sideways in the air during
a race in Mammoth in April, he pretty much
figured the outcome would be bad. It was. The
wheels of the 450cc Honda TRX quad hit the
ground, slamming him into the dirt. The 350-pound
vehicle then flipped into the air and landed
on him. Brandon was airlifted to Tucson's University
Medical Center, where a dislocated collarbone,
bruised pelvis, three cracked ribs, collapsed
lung and a concussion kept him hospitalized
for 12 days. More...
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August 2, 2007 |
Crossville Chronicle, "ATV
accident leaves child critical"
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A parent's worst nightmare came true Wednesday
morning when a man traveling a rural Cumberland
County road rounded a curve to find his son
underneath an all-terrain vehicle in the
roadway, according to witnesses and the Tennessee
Highway Patrol. More...
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August 1, 2007 |
Woodtv.com, "Four
wheeler accident kills promising baseball
player"
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An 18-year-old baseball player from Whitehall
was killed in a four wheeler accident Friday
night on Whitneyville road. More...
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July 30, 2007 |
Canada.com, "Rein
in ATVs to reduce carnage, surgeon
urges"
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In the wake of the weekend death of a
13-year-old boy while driving an all-terrain
vehicle (ATV), an Edmonton spinal cord
surgeon is renewing his call for a ban
on people under the age of 16 driving quads
and for the licensing of all quad drivers.
More...
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July 30, 2007 |
Edmonton Sun (Canada), "Quad
rollover kills boy, 13"
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A 13-year-old Rimbey boy died in a quadding
accident Saturday afternoon about 60 km
west of Rocky Mountain House. Wyatt Lyal
Bauer was driving a Yamaha Rhino alone
on a logging road in the False Creek area,
when he went down a steep hill and lost
control of the vehicle, which then landed
on him, Mounties said. More...
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June 6, 2007 |
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, "Three
Kids Injured in Yamaha Rhino ATV Accident"
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A crash involving youths on a Yamaha
Rhino off-road vehicle resulted in three
injuries, police said. More...
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May 29, 2007 |
The Times (Shreveport), "Lake
Charles Teen Dies in Yamaha Rhino ATV
Accident"
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A 13-year-old Lake Charles girl died
Sunday night in a Shreveport hospital following
an ATV accident in south Sabine Parish,
Deputy Coroner Ron Rivers said. Whitney
Bland died at 10:50 p.m. at LSU Hospital
in Shreveport from abdominal trauma caused
by injuries sus-tained in the rollover
accident, Rivers said. More...
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