Victims of Murray, John Deere, or Snapper riding lawn mower accidents should contact attorney John Gehlhausen for legal representation. Mr. Gehlhausen can discuss options for filing an injury claim.
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What compensation can I receive for my riding lawn mower accident?
The Law Offices of John Gehlhausen, P.C. will fight to help victims recover lost support, funeral expenses, medical-related expenses, and lost wages, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, lost companionship and other hardships...
What are the major causes of riding lawn mower accidents?
When used on ditch banks or inclines, riding lawn mowers can roll over and pin or crush the rider beneath their weight...
Few legal minds are more familiar with the aspects of lawn mower accident cases than attorney John Gehlhausen. He will diligently fight for the rights of anyone injured in a rollover accident. During his years of experience in the field, Mr. Gehlhausen has become a leading authority on all things riding mower-related, including the risks of mowers and tractors not equipped with the proper safety equipment. Mr. Gehlhausen adamantly supports the installation of rollover protective safety frame systems (ROPS) on riding lawn mowers in order to protect the operator in the event of a rollover accident. However, certain manufacturers fail to install these ROPS, claiming they raise the center of gravity on the mower, increasing the likelihood of a rollover accident. In the following article, Mr. Gehlhausen articulates why he disagrees with this line of thinking, introducing data that supports his claim. Victims of riding lawn mower accidents should promptly contact Mr. Gehlhausen to arrange a consultation.
Will A Riding Lawn Mower Be More Likely To Roll Over If A Rollover Protective Safety Frame System (ROPS) Is Installed Because Of A Higher Center Of Gravity Or Because Branches, Clotheslines, Or Other Low Clearance Objects Could Catch The Top Of The ROPS?
By: John Gehlhausen
Riding Mower Accident Product Liability Attorney
When brought to court, manufacturers who have not installed ROPS on their lawn tractors often argue that ROPS will make these riding mowers more dangerous because they will be more likely to roll over if a ROPS is installed on the machine. These manufacturers claim that ROPS will raise the machine’s center of gravity and thus make the lawn tractor less stable and more likely to roll. They also claim that the ROPS could catch on some low clearance item such as a tree branch or a clothesline which could cause the lawn tractor to flip backward.
These arguments are without factual basis. First, any increase in the tractors center of gravity caused by the addition of a ROPS would, at best, be minor. However, adding a ROPS to a lawn tractor does not have to raise the tractor’s center of gravity even this minute amount as such augmentations can easily be offset by lengthening and/or widening the wheel stance of the machine or by simply mounting some offset steel weight beneath the safety frame. In addition even when ROPS are added, these machines have no difficulty passing the stability tests set by the mower industry itself through its trade association, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). These stability test requirements were incorporated by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in its riding mower standard which was actually written by the OPEI.
Low-clearance problems are nothing new. Whether or not a ROPS is installed on the machine, a riding mower cannot go beneath every low clearance object that extends above grass. Even without ROPS operators have been killed on riding mowers simply by running into branches. CPSC lawn tractor rollover data from 1980 thru 2007 show no documented cases in which the operator of a ROPS-equipped lawn tractor was killed or seriously (permanently) injured because the tractor, though being properly used, rolled over when the ROPS caught on some low-clearance object. Claims about diminished safety due to raised centers of gravity or low-clearance objects are merely manufacturers’ litigation techniques designed to convince juries to believe that accidents which are highly unlikely to happen are a justification for their dollar-saving strategy of not installing ROPS on their machines to protect against rollover injuries which continue to happen in epidemic proportions. It is a strategy designed to scare juries into believing such unlikely deaths and injuries are a valid reason for not protecting consumers from the actual deaths and injuries that continue every year and can happen to any of us who use these lawn tractors without ROPS.
The most important point, however, is that even if the addition of ROPS somehow causes more rollovers, there is a safety frame system on the tractor to protect the operator when such rollovers happen.
After a serious accident, physical and emotional recovery should be the victim's first priority. Attorney John Gehlhausen will handle the complex details of filing an injury claim, allowing the victim and his or her family to heal from the devastating effects of the accident. Victims of Murray, John Deere, or Snapper riding lawn mower accidents can trust Mr. Gehlhausen to provide aggressive, effective legal representation. Contact our office today.