Yamaha Motor Co. knew its Rhino all-terrain vehicle was "unreasonably dangerous" and failed to fix its design, an attorney for the family of a dead Texas teenager told jurors at the start of a trial this week.
The company put profits before safety when it sold the machine as a cross between a golf cart and an ATV, Troy Rafferty, a lawyer for the parents of Forest "Eddie" Ray, told jurors Tuesday in state court in Orange, Texas. The Rhino has been linked to 59 deaths in the U.S.
"Yamaha knew for years it was a defective design and would roll over and kill people," Rafferty said in his opening statement.
Shizuoka Prefecture-based Yamaha is facing about 500 lawsuits over the Rhino in the U.S. and Canada. In April, it halted sales of the ATV and said it would repair for free 145,000 units of three models introduced since 2003.