Here's an example or an illustration of the design problems of the Yamaha Rhino compared to other vehicles (that leads to rollovers). Here you have the just the typical sedan, the dimensions will be about seventy-one inches wide by fifty-three inches tall. In an SUV, you're going to be a little bit taller, about eighty inches wide by seventy-four inches tall. Of course these (sedan and SUV) are driven on the street. If you go off road, the Yamaha Rhino design is fifty-four inches wide by seventy-three inches tall – one inch less than an SUV. An SUV is still wider than it is tall – it's much more stable. Here (the Yamaha Rhino) it's much taller than it is wide, the ratio here (with the Yamaha Rhino) is about five by seven here – its about the inverse of what it is in a vehicle. These (Yamaha Rhinos) are very unstable as we know and contrary to common sense. The very first off-road vehicle – or the very first dune buggy – was designed by Bruce Meyers. He (Bruce Myers) was a Navy Veteran of World War II, he came back, decided he wanted to design an off-road vehicle, and just using his common sense – he wasn't an expert for a huge company. But just using his common sense he designed a vehicle – an off road vehicle – that was seventy-two inches wide by forty-eight inches tall. Same height by the way – very low – like a sports car would be. But off road it's even more necessary – more important that you have those types of dimensions for stability. Put a couple of seats in your dune buggy – put a couple of guys in there – the center of gravity is pretty low here – because of the profile and the width allows for a lot of stability. In a (Yamaha) rhino the seating is much more like a golf cart. So you put a couple people in (a Rhino), the center of gravity is much higher. Of course, there's lift here (Yamaha Rhino) to create clearance. Here you don't have to worry about that because they’re driven on the street. And the (Yamaha) Rhino is very prone to rollover because of that. And if you just think about it – if you were setting out to design an off-road vehicle, this (the dune buggy design) is what you would do – you wouldn't do this (the Yamaha Rhino design). This (the Yamaha Rhino design) doesn't make any sense – it's taller than it is wide. But if you were trying to design a vehicle that you could market and sell to people based upon the fact that you could drive it up into the back of a pick-up truck – you would want it to be fifty-four inches wide – that is exactly what happened with the (Yamaha) Rhino. This is where common sense leads you – this (the Yamaha Rhino design) is where some other type of thinking leads you. The other thing this leads to is a lot of rollovers and a lot of problems (like crush injuries of the leg, arm or hand). There is very little margin for error when the rhino tips over. In a dune buggy because it is seventy-two inches wide, it's a lot less likely that a limb (arm or leg) is going to be outside the cage. But in something that is fifty-four inches wide, it is a lot more likely that an arm or a leg is going to outside of the cage when it rolls and when they are, they (leg, arm, or hand) can be – and often are – crushed by the roll bar or the body of the Rhino. And so hopefully this illustration helps explain the risks and design problems of the Rhino. And this is one of the things that we do at the ATV Attorney Alliance in answering questions from people that contact us.
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