Are you aware the Yamaha Rhino 660 and 450 are top heavy and this leads to numerous injuries and deaths. Scores have reported these accidents in the four years this model has been on the market.

The ATV experiences rollover when going around sharp turns, even at slower speeds. Yamaha sent a letter to Rhino owners last year acknowledging the dangers but seemed to indicate the accidents were the fault of the driver.

Then Yamaha conceded the defects and decided to overhaul the design aspects of the Rhino.

You can read more about it by visiting http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/yamaha_rhino_rollover  

the thing that gets me is that numerous pro's have won numerous races with the rhino and not had a problem with rollovers.  yeah it could stand to be a little wider for the general public, but i don't think you classify it as a design flaw if it performs.
the problem listed is not that it is "top heavy"
but the official complaint was that it was too narrow.

it's basically the same as one of us taking a corner too fast on an atv. it's definately going to roll over.

put too many people on rhino's or atv's that don't understand the limitations of the machine and they are more likely to get hurt.

so yeah i think alot of it comes down to rider ability and good sense or lack there of.

if you know it can rollover do you run it wide open in the corners and hope it doesn't?

it's not like polaris' many defects that caused injury because polaris uses cheap 2nd quality materials in an effort to make a fast buck rather than place importance on quality and safety.

Yamaha has always built good quality machines, you can't really blame them for the riders lack of good judgement.  

www.yamaha-rhino-information.com  

yeah and the site you posted talks about how alot of the accidents were children riding the rhino..... my point exactly is that a rhino is NOT a childs atv.

lack of good judgement hurts and kills alot of people.  

Muckraker, go somehwere else. Irresponsible riders are a problem no matter what they are on whether they are in a Rhino or in car on the street. Idots can roll anything.....

Survival of the fittest..... It is a good way to thin out the stupid population.  

a few months ago i covered this issue in an editorial piece and to this day i still stand by it.

Attack of the Ambulance Chasers!


The last few weeks for me have been overwhelmingly exhilarating in many ways. It all started with my adventure to the 2008 High Lifter Mud Nationals, then off to the East Coast to race my first ever GNCC and rounding it all off with a long journey to Washington State for the most recent WORCS race. But even with all of these great experiences, I could not seem to escape something that was truly bothering me. It actually irritated me to the point that I asked Thad to let me have this column for the August issue.

In my time here at ATV Rider, I’ve become the resident side-by-side guru by many in our office. By no means do I think I am the side-by-side authority, but I do have more seat time than most and have a true passion for driving them. With that said, I am greatly affected when I see commercials and ads by random legal offices seeking out those who have been injured due to rolling a Rhino. Have you seen these, they are everywhere? Every time one of these devious commercials roll on TV, it painfully shifts my thoughts back to those horrifying days of the mid 1980’s when shows like 60 Minutes and 20/20 would attack the infamous 3 wheeler. What grieves me most are those irresponsible riders who respond to these advertisements. I’m not saying that people don’t get hurt at times while riding in vehicles like the Rhino, but probably more times than not, the injuries are due to a lack of skill, not wearing proper safety gear and even carelessness. I have been in situations myself when I have felt over confident because of the cage that surrounded me.

Now, if I crashed and injured myself because I was over confident of my ability, does that give me honest reason to hunt down the manufacturer and say they’ve built an unsafe product? Absolutely not! That’s like buying a brand new car, driving it irresponsibly, crashing it and getting hurt. Was it the fault of the cars manufacturer or was it your lack of common sense telling you “Hey, you’re going a little too fast and driving recklessly.” People must learn to accept the consequences for their own actions.

An even larger concern is people that allow their kids to drive these machines around. I’ve heard numerous stories whether true or false of small children being seriously or even fatally injured in rollover incidents. These machines are nothing more than scaled down sport vehicles. A 10 year old child has no business hauling all of his or her friends around either in the passenger seat or piled in the bed for that matter. Would you allow them to take off in your car or truck while you sit around chatting with friends? Do you really think they have the experience and even a developed sense of responsibility at this age? I don’t think so and unleashing them in a vehicle like this should be no different.

Most states do not allow people to drive an automobile until they are at least 16 years of age. Even then, there are limits as to how old their passengers can be until they have so many years of driving experience. Side-by-sides have a warning label that encourages parents not to allow anyone under the age of 16 to operate these vehicles. Do you think they spend the time and energy to put these labels on just because they feel like it? It’s scary to think of kids getting hurt or killed because of driving accidents. Why don’t people comprehend these warnings?

I’ve heard rumors of families suing the manufacturers for the harm or death of loved ones. My deepest sympathy goes out to these families for their loss, but whose fault is it really? My intentions of writing this are not to upset our readers (even though I know some will be), but rather to shed light on an increasingly horrible situation. Companies like Yamaha, Kawasaki and Polaris have spent many years of research and design to bring us the greatest machines ever. If enough of these bloodthirsty ambulance-chasing lawyers lure in clients through these commercials, the side-by-side world could come quickly crashing down. How do I know that this could happen, well, look to the 3-wheeler market that was completely wiped from existence in the 80’s. It’s happened before, and you can bet that it could happen again.

So what will we be left with if that happens? The good news is that the solution is actually simple and easy if we all band together. We all should learn to drive within our means. Take time to figure out the handling of your machine and even make upgrades that can make it safer at higher performing levels. Second of all is to keep the kids out of the drivers’ seat. I know many kids out there are not going to like me for this one, but it sure beats more injured kids and loosing side-x-sides forever. Lastly is to take responsibility for your actions. It’s too easy now days to put the blame on someone else for our own lack of good judgment.

To those who are fuming from my words, I apologize if I come across as the side-by-side police. But I do want to bring a sense of awareness to all enthusiasts and try to stop this snowballing affect before it’s too late. The more widespread these commercials become and the more people respond to them trying to make a quick buck, the worse things will get for the sport we love and are so passionate about. After manufacturers did away with 3 wheelers, they also agreed to stop making high performance ATV’s for over 10 years.

Luckily, those of us who loved this sport spent 10 exhausting years nurturing it back to health. Do we want this same kind of agreement to happen again? I know for a fact that I don’t. And if you want to continue enjoying your weekends on side-by-sides, you should join me in fighting for our right to continue. I think there are already enough Rhinos on the endangered species list.

Until I get cranky about something else and need to rant again, keep the rubber side down! And do it with responsibility please.

Eli
Associate Editor
ATV Rider Magazine  

It's important for all of you guys to note that Muckraker is a lawyer. He has four posts on our forum all of which are claiming the Rhino causes injury or death. Please be aware that Muckraker does not care even an ounce about people and for those who have been injured or worse, his only objective on our site is to try and make money by carelessly suing manufacturers.  

i figured that much, i did go to the site awhile back, (not willing to let things slide i guess)
but on his site he had pictures of others who were injured on the rhino.
11 of the photo's (the majority) were children ranging IN AGE FROM 3 YEARS OLD TO 13.

the rhino is NOT a childs atv or side by side.

it's sad that people lose loved ones, but if you are irresponsible as a parent and ride your small child around on a rhino riding like an idiot or let your inexperienced child operate one themselves, is it actually Yamaha's fault?

yes there are others who are of age who were injured and possibly even killed, but will we ever know their experience level as a rider?
i doubt any lawyer will ever allow that information to become public knowledge.

or how responsible they were as a rider??

I ride pretty hard and with my experience as a rider (28 years atv and dirtbike) i still have times i push it a bit hard. we all do, but i don't push it past my ability to ride.
DOING SO WOULD BE STUPID ON  MY PART.

right on Eli!!!  

i spent some time on that site myself and was amazed at some of the stories ppl posted about how accidents occurred and that they have the nerve to put the blame on someone else. My deepest sympathies go to those families but where do we as responsible human beings draw the line.
I watched the video posted "rhino rollover movie" and where the person on the site asks if the driver looks as if he's driving aggressively or is making and abrupt turn, insinuating that he is out for a sunday afternoon stroll. Pay close attention to the movie. you can see in the movie that he is in a powerslide around the mudpit and as he is sliding the suspension is working as he is going over ruts in this slide up to the point he goes from mud to a dry hard pack surface at the point of the rollover.
This movie shows a careless operator who is not paying attention to the terrain he is driving on as well as driving beyond his means.
For those who read this and look to our sponsored links at the bottom of this page, we have been working to have these links removed as we DO NOT endorse any of those money hungry legal firms who consistently try to post on our site.