Motion Filed to Consolidate Yamaha Rhino Lawsuits

A motion has been filed with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate and centralize Yamaha Rhino lawsuits that have been filed in various federal courts for pretrial litigation. The lawsuits allege that design defects in the side-by-side ATV caused the vehicle to rollover, resulting in serious and debilitating injuries for riders. Several plaintiffs who have pending cases are requesting that 57 Rhino ATV lawsuits be transferred from 33 different U.S. District Courts to one court where they will be coordinated as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation.

The Yamaha Rhino was first introduced in 2003. The lawsuits, estimated to total more than 200 across the country, allege that the Rhino was negligently designed with a narrow wheelbase, high center of gravity, small turning radius and powerful engine, which combine to make the vehicle inherently unstable. In September 2006, Yamaha sent a letter to owners acknowledging the risk of rollovers. In the letter, they outlined that riders should be careful to keep their arms and legs inside the vehicle during a rollover, and began offering doors and additional passenger handlebars in 2007.

An MDL is a federal procedure which allows multiple cases with common underlying facts to be consolidated for pretrial litigation in a manner similar to how a Yamaha Rhino class action lawsuit would be managed. However, throughout the litigation the cases remain individual claims, and if the litigation does not settle or otherwise resolve during pretrial proceedings, the cases are returned to the original jurisdiction where they were filed for a jury trial. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will consider the Motion filed by some of the plaintiffs to form a Yamaha Rhino ATV Products Liability MDL at a hearing scheduled for January 29, 2009 at the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Fort Myers, Florida.