Another lawsuit after 4 people burn to death in a rzr

[krom]

Shock failure, machine burst into flames while flipping, relatives watch as 4 kids in their early 20s burn to death 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/families-of-4-killed-in-fiery-atv-rollover-sue-maker-for-known-defects/

[Bontz]

I didn't click the link, but man ... I can't even imagine having to watch something like that.  Horrible

[AK440]

3 hours ago, krom said:

Shock failure, machine burst into flames while flipping, relatives watch as 4 kids in their early 20s burn to death 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/families-of-4-killed-in-fiery-atv-rollover-sue-maker-for-known-defects/

Horrible way to die and a freak accident. What’s your solution, ban all SxS’s? Maybe include blow and go’s as standard equipment in every model? Eliminate the beds and cup holders so there is no room to pack around beer? Ohooo, how about make them electric so there is no hot exhaust? I guess they could follow the Cat path and just quit making them? 

[krom]

3 hours ago, AK440 said:

Horrible way to die and a freak accident. What’s your solution, ban all SxS’s? Maybe include blow and go’s as standard equipment in every model? Eliminate the beds and cup holders so there is no room to pack around beer? Ohooo, how about make them electric so there is no hot exhaust? I guess they could follow the Cat path and just quit making them? 

Problem is that it wasn't a "freak accident" 

The fire issues were well known at the factory 

Just design build and sell machines that don't catch on fire during normal use. 

[AK440]

1 hour ago, krom said:

Problem is that it wasn't a "freak accident" 

The fire issues were well known at the factory 

Just design build and sell machines that don't catch on fire during normal use. 

It’s impossible to do that. The weight and balance would be off and the RZR’s wouldn’t handle properly. Generally it’s never a problem as the spilled cooler ice and beer spray extinguish any flames. 

[X2700]

How’d the front shock snap off?

I know Polaris has fire issues but when something flips over there’s always a fire hazard!!

 

[Not greg b]

They had a sled recall the same day as cat. They are saftey conscious company just like Norman county gravel 

[ICG]

They all tip over.....Japan mfg's spend big bucks defending their rigs safety in product liability suits.

 

 

[Crnr2Crnr]

 

thermal hazards...  

[polaris7541]

starting to make sence why polaris is posting all these stop ride fire hazard recalls with no fix , and a worthless sticker , im sure its some legal way of protecting them ,,yep its the old i told you so , and really sorry for the family's involved with the fire ...sad day 

[Tripleflipper]

17 hours ago, krom said:

Problem is that it wasn't a "freak accident" 

The fire issues were well known at the factory 

Just design build and sell machines that don't catch on fire during normal use. 

Good point, there are thousands, likely millions of vehicles on the roads today that have similar issues to this. I'm driving a 2023 Tundra with a fuel hose routing issue. Waiting for a fix.

[AK440]

9 hours ago, Tripleflipper said:

Good point, there are thousands, likely millions of vehicles on the roads today that have similar issues to this. I'm driving a 2023 Tundra with a fuel hose routing issue. Waiting for a fix.

But it’s waaaay cheaper to issue a stop ride notice and mail out a fire hazard sticker.

[Tripleflipper]

1 hour ago, AK440 said:

But it’s waaaay cheaper to issue a stop ride notice and mail out a fire hazard sticker.

I'm not putting one of those on my Tundra 

[racinfarmer]

https://www.polaris.com/en-us/careers/job-categories/engineering/apply/r22614/

[Crnr2Crnr]

9 hours ago, racinfarmer said:

https://www.polaris.com/en-us/careers/job-categories/engineering/apply/r22614/

sounds like a good gig for Ramstad 

[Deephaven]

Maybe he can lie his way in claiming to be an engineer

[awful knawful]

On 5/4/2024 at 4:11 PM, krom said:

Problem is that it wasn't a "freak accident" 

The fire issues were well known at the factory 

Just design build and sell machines that don't catch on fire during normal use. 

But it was a freak accident.

The shock broke and the bike rolled. The fire was caused from the rolling, nothing else.

[Tripleflipper]

8 hours ago, awful knawful said:

But it was a freak accident.

The shock broke and the bike rolled. The fire was caused from the rolling, nothing else.

Doesn't suit his agenda

[krom]

9 hours ago, awful knawful said:

But it was a freak accident.

The shock broke and the bike rolled. The fire was caused from the rolling, nothing else.

 

20 minutes ago, Tripleflipper said:

Doesn't suit his agenda

A sxs rolling isn't a freak accident, its a everyday occurrence and its been going on for a decade or more. Incase you didn't see this in the other thread...

1

But customers soon reported that plastic panels between the passengers and the engine were melting and smoking. At a meeting in 2011, the company’s head of product safety told executives that a recall was necessary after he reviewed “between eight and 15” reports of heat damage, according to his testimony in a 2017 wrongful-death lawsuit.

“It was my heartfelt feeling and belief that the vehicle should be recalled,” the safety director, Kenneth d’Entremont, said in a deposition.

Instead, Polaris issued a service bulletin instructing dealers to affix an aluminum sheet to damaged panels. Without a recall, the company was not required to inform customers or the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the fires. Mr. d’Entremont testified that he had been excluded from future safety meetings.

Kenneth D’Entremont, a safety director for Polaris, left the company in 2012. “It was no longer possible for me to continue working there ethically,” he said.

2

11-year-old Keylee Latham. During a family visit with friends in Texas in July 2014, Keylee rode in a 2010 Polaris Ranger while tagging along on a trip to take trash to a dumpster. The vehicle tipped over, pinning her beneath it as the ROV began leaking gasoline. Then the ROV and Keylee caught fire.

She was rescued after a neighbor used his truck to push the Ranger off her body

Keylee suffered third- and fourth-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Eventually part of her right leg and her left foot had to be amputated, according to the suit, which was settled out of court.

The suit claimed Polaris knew there was a danger of gas leaking in a rollover and that it should have installed a valve or taken another preventive measure. It also claimed that in 2007 a Polaris fuel-systems design engineer asked the company to test devices that would prevent fuel spills if a vehicle tipped over

3

On July 4, 2016 Baylee was riding with a cousin in the back seat of a rented Polaris RZR 900, while her father and grandfather sat in the front. BJ Hoaldridge, Baylee’s father was turning the ATV, going about 5 mph, when it tipped on its side.

Initially, he didn’t believe there was any issue. But then, flames started to spread. Everyone was able to get out immediately, except Baylee, who was trapped in her seat and engulfed in flames.

“I took her under the arm and just did everything I could to hold her out of the flame, and then grandpa came and saved her, unhooked her seat belt,” BJ Hoaldridge said. “At night, I’ll never forget the screaming. Ever. Grandpa can’t either.”

Baylee was rushed to the hospital at the University of Utah with third-degree burns to 65 percent of her body. The injuries were so severe they led to an infection, which forced doctors to remove her large intestine.

Over the next four months, Baylee had 27 surgeries including skin grafts, surgical removal of infected tissue and other treatments.

she passed away in November '16 after her life support was turned off

4

September 2016 in Utah. Two Destiny Dixon and Deborah Swann were killed when their Polaris Ranger tipped over, sparking a fire.

“A large and lethal amount of gasoline saturated the area around the occupants, who were restrained in the vehicle by seat belts, and a large fire ignited,” according to a suit filed in Minnesota last year against Polaris by the families of Destiny Dixon and Deborah Swann.

‘Ranger was completely consumed’

“Within a few seconds, the Ranger was completely consumed in extremely hot and high flames,” the suit said. It added that the women were burned to death before they could release their seat belt

5

But minutes into the first ride, with Steven Groves, 23, in the passenger seat, chaos erupted.

“Steven yelled, ‘Fire!’” Mr. Bingham said. “All I saw was orange.”

After struggling to unbuckle his harness, Mr. Bingham escaped with severe burns. Mr. Groves, however, was trapped as flames covered him. Not until his harness melted did he fall to the ground, his body still on fire. He died the next day.

Mr. Bingham’s 2017 RZR, which caught fire in Idaho in May, had received the prescribed repair after the 2018 recall

as of 2019 Polaris has settled at least three lawsuits related to fires in its side-by-sides, and at least 11 more lawsuits are pending

Edited May 6 by krom

[mnstang]

31 minutes ago, krom said:

 

A sxs rolling isn't a freak accident, its a everyday occurrence and its been going on for a decade or more. Incase you didn't see this in the other thread...

1

But customers soon reported that plastic panels between the passengers and the engine were melting and smoking. At a meeting in 2011, the company’s head of product safety told executives that a recall was necessary after he reviewed “between eight and 15” reports of heat damage, according to his testimony in a 2017 wrongful-death lawsuit.

“It was my heartfelt feeling and belief that the vehicle should be recalled,” the safety director, Kenneth d’Entremont, said in a deposition.

Instead, Polaris issued a service bulletin instructing dealers to affix an aluminum sheet to damaged panels. Without a recall, the company was not required to inform customers or the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the fires. Mr. d’Entremont testified that he had been excluded from future safety meetings.

Kenneth D’Entremont, a safety director for Polaris, left the company in 2012. “It was no longer possible for me to continue working there ethically,” he said.

2

11-year-old Keylee Latham. During a family visit with friends in Texas in July 2014, Keylee rode in a 2010 Polaris Ranger while tagging along on a trip to take trash to a dumpster. The vehicle tipped over, pinning her beneath it as the ROV began leaking gasoline. Then the ROV and Keylee caught fire.

She was rescued after a neighbor used his truck to push the Ranger off her body

Keylee suffered third- and fourth-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Eventually part of her right leg and her left foot had to be amputated, according to the suit, which was settled out of court.

The suit claimed Polaris knew there was a danger of gas leaking in a rollover and that it should have installed a valve or taken another preventive measure. It also claimed that in 2007 a Polaris fuel-systems design engineer asked the company to test devices that would prevent fuel spills if a vehicle tipped over

3

On July 4, 2016 Baylee was riding with a cousin in the back seat of a rented Polaris RZR 900, while her father and grandfather sat in the front. BJ Hoaldridge, Baylee’s father was turning the ATV, going about 5 mph, when it tipped on its side.

Initially, he didn’t believe there was any issue. But then, flames started to spread. Everyone was able to get out immediately, except Baylee, who was trapped in her seat and engulfed in flames.

“I took her under the arm and just did everything I could to hold her out of the flame, and then grandpa came and saved her, unhooked her seat belt,” BJ Hoaldridge said. “At night, I’ll never forget the screaming. Ever. Grandpa can’t either.”

Baylee was rushed to the hospital at the University of Utah with third-degree burns to 65 percent of her body. The injuries were so severe they led to an infection, which forced doctors to remove her large intestine.

Over the next four months, Baylee had 27 surgeries including skin grafts, surgical removal of infected tissue and other treatments.

she passed away in November '16 after her life support was turned off

4

September 2016 in Utah. Two Destiny Dixon and Deborah Swann were killed when their Polaris Ranger tipped over, sparking a fire.

“A large and lethal amount of gasoline saturated the area around the occupants, who were restrained in the vehicle by seat belts, and a large fire ignited,” according to a suit filed in Minnesota last year against Polaris by the families of Destiny Dixon and Deborah Swann.

‘Ranger was completely consumed’

“Within a few seconds, the Ranger was completely consumed in extremely hot and high flames,” the suit said. It added that the women were burned to death before they could release their seat belt

5

But minutes into the first ride, with Steven Groves, 23, in the passenger seat, chaos erupted.

“Steven yelled, ‘Fire!’” Mr. Bingham said. “All I saw was orange.”

After struggling to unbuckle his harness, Mr. Bingham escaped with severe burns. Mr. Groves, however, was trapped as flames covered him. Not until his harness melted did he fall to the ground, his body still on fire. He died the next day.

Mr. Bingham’s 2017 RZR, which caught fire in Idaho in May, had received the prescribed repair after the 2018 recall

as of 2019 Polaris has settled at least three lawsuits related to fires in its side-by-sides, and at least 11 more lawsuits are pending

That was hard to read.  Being burned to death I think is the worst way to go.

So.e if these cases sound like when they roll over they just start dumping fuel out?  Is that part a malfunction on a portion of the machines or do they all do that by design?

[krom]

1 hour ago, mnstang said:

That was hard to read.  Being burned to death I think is the worst way to go.

So.e if these cases sound like when they roll over they just start dumping fuel out?  Is that part a malfunction on a portion of the machines or do they all do that by design?

Yea, those where the first stories I came across, it didn't take much searching.  It's got to be the worst way to go

 

its because of terrible design

Edited May 7 by krom

[awful knawful]

2 hours ago, Tripleflipper said:

Doesn't suit his agenda

Sxs don't roll over by themselves.

It's all on the driver.

 

[krom]

1 hour ago, awful knawful said:

Sxs don't roll over by themselves.

It's all on the driver.

 

Flopping a SXS on its side or lid is a normal part of operating it for more than a small amount of folks that use them for anything other than a golf cart.

Nothing about flopping or flipping one is a "freak accident".

Pretty odd stance trying to defend 13 years of people suffering one of the worst deaths imaginable because of terrible designs, after their lead safety guy was so disgusted by it that he had to leave the company

 

 

Edited May 7 by krom

[AK440]

16 minutes ago, krom said:

Flopping a SXS on its side or lid is a normal part of operating it for more than a small amount of folks that use them for anything other than a golf cart.

Nothing about flopping or flipping one is a "freak accident".

Pretty odd stance trying to defend 13 years of people suffering one of the worst deaths imaginable because of terrible designs, after their lead safety guy was so disgusted by it that he had to leave the company

 

 

No it isn’t! I’ve had a SxS for 10 years now, ya know what I’ve never done? Flip it on its side or roll it. Have you priced out the cost of the body panels and flimsy “roll” cage parts? They are fucking expensive and you don’t want to put them on their side or roll over. There is no reason why the gas tanks can’t be equipped with a roll valve auto shut off. Other than cost I can’t understand why it’s so difficult for them to prevent the tanks from spilling fuel. 

[Deephaven]

You don't own shit and if you did you would drive it like a pussy.