With thousands of miles of trails, commercial dirt-bike courses and off-roading locations, Minnesota and Wisconsin are a haven for those who enjoy All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). While traffic laws and ordinary “rules of the road” might not apply in these places, principles of negligence and a rider’s duty to act responsibly still do.
What are the ATV manufacturer’s safety obligations?
ATVs, like motorcycles and personal watercraft, offer almost no bodily protection in the case of an accident, collision or rollover. Unlike automobiles, which go to great lengths to protect passengers in the case of an accident, ATVs leave operators and passengers at risk for great bodily harm. While the manufacturers of ATVs cannot be held liable for lack of protection provided to riders, they do have a duty to ensure they are taking every possible precaution to safeguard operators and passengers when the ATV is being used under normal conditions.
ATV laws can get muddy. We help clarify.
Normally, ATV coverage is included in a standard homeowner’s insurance policy, which simply pays for the damages incurred. However, when an accident or injury is involved, extenuating circumstances sometimes result in assigning liability. For example, if you ride your ATV in a permitted area, but the owner of that land knows the condition of his land provides a foreseeable danger, the owner could be liable for any injuries you incur.
How will an ATV lawyer help me?
Attorney Rick Schroeder worked extensively on the Mass Tort 3-Wheel ATV product liability litigation in the early 1990s with one of the country’s top ATV litigators here in Minnesota. As such, he gained a keen insight to the inner workings of product liability litigation, and how ATV dealers and manufacturers try to avoid responsibility for their dangerous designs, lack of adequate warnings, improper or lack of training and safety procedures, and failures to notify customers of safety information, service bulletins and recalls.
Don’t make assumptions. Call us for a free consultation.
Most of the time, when people are injured in a 4-wheeler or ATV accident, they assume it was their own fault. However, there are cases where we can work toward recovering compensation for your injuries. Call today for a FREE consultation.
