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.

The new federal lawsuit claims that Brooklynn Madison Mitchell was riding as a passenger in a Rhino on June 10, 2005, when the vehicle tipped over onto the passenger side. She suffered severe injuries to her knee, arm, foot and ankle, requiring surgery and the amputation of four toes on her right foot. In the state suit, Jeffrey Lambert claims that he suffered catastrophic injuries when the Rhino he was driving tipped over at a low rate of speed. He suffered numerous fractures, dislocations and lacerations, and was stranded alone for over six hours before rescue. He later had to undergo numerous surgeries and had one-third of his left foot amputated. Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP is representing the plaintiffs in these matters.

Learn more about Yamaha Rhino dangers and the legal rights of victims of Rhino accidents.