If you or a loved one is the victim of a riding mower or garden tractor accident, please contact the Law Offices of John Gehlhausen, P.C., to schedule a consultation to discuss your case.
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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...
Riding lawn mower rollovers are very likely to hurt or kill the operator. In their sales literature, lawn mower manufacturers ignore the data showing just how many people are injured or killed in rollover accidents. Because these machines have such hazardous potential, every lawn mower should be equipped with a rollover protective system (ROPS) to protect the operator.
Riding lawn mower rollover accidents have happened ever since lawn tractors have existed. There are innumerable combinations of man, machine, and environment that can result in a rollover. The only practical means of protection in a rollover accident is a rollover protective system.
Zero-turning-radius riding lawn tractors are dangerous due to design features (including speed, lap bars, high power, and low profile). They appear to have a higher rate of rollover accidents than ordinary riding mowers.
The riding mower industry markets their machines for either "residential" or "commercial" use. Both residential and commercial mowers should be equipped with a rollover protection system to protect the operator in the event of a rollover accident.
Manufacturers often advise that operators not drive a lawn mower on a slope greater than 15 degrees. However, driving on a slope less than 15 degrees does not guarantee the machine won’t roll over. Also, operators typically cannot accurately gauge the degree of the slope they are traversing. Drawings of slope angles in the owner manual are insufficient; if manufacturers were truly concerned with warning operators of the 15 degree slopes, they would install an inclinometer on their machines.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has a long history with the unregulated riding mower industry. For years the organization has been researching the numerous injuries and deaths resulting from rollover accidents. Their inaction on the rollover problem can be attributed to politics.
When confronted with a rollover accident, manufacturers of riding mowers always blame "operator error" for the accident. Humans are imperfect creatures and subject to unpredictable conditions such as a change in weather, mechanical failures or ground conditions; therefore, manufacturers have a responsibility to install rollover protection systems on their machines in case such unexpected hazards result in an accident.
Manufacturers of riding lawn mowers and garden tractors claim that installing a rollover protective safety frame system on the machine will raise the center of gravity, thus increasing the risk of a rollover accident. Yet they can offset any relevant increase in the center of gravity by design.
It's nearly impossible for riding lawn mower operators to sense that their machines are tipping and jump away to safety in the split second before their machines start to roll. The chances are even slimmer if the machine is a zero-turn-radius mower. Rollovers occur in one to two seconds.
Manufacturers may sell rollover protection safety frame systems as optional add-ons to their mowers and tractors. However, studies have found that consumers don't typically purchase these systems separately. This article explains the physiological tendencies of why consumers do not purchase optional ROPS safety frame systems in those cases where the option exists.