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Detroit, 5:40 PM
Fri Nov 27
3 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/31/09
Hopefully this trend continues.
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
@mytdawg: What they need are tinfoil hats!
08/31/09
08/31/09
In this case, I'm sorry to say it, but it's a perfect example of transferral of blame. The parents clearly can't accept that they could be responsible for what happened to their child. I can understand this; losing a child is probably the hardest thing a parent could ever have to deal with. But simply thrashing around blindly for someone to blame isn't the solution.
It may seem cruel to say so, particularly after the parents lost a child, but they are the ones to blame here, not Yamaha. Unfortunately, everyone is going to dance around that issue in trying to console them. Nobody wants to say it, but it's the parents responsibility to make sure the equipment is used properly, and used by people who know what they're doing. These are big, powerful machines, not appropriate for a child; but to blame the manufacturer for making it, rather than the user for not operating it properly, is just silly.
08/31/09
If this was in a different context (say in a work situation involving an adult for example), operator competency would be the first question that would be asked. I’m not saying a 13 year old can’t be proven competent, however, operating an ATV is a fairly large responsibility for someone of that age. ATV’s are big, fast, and dangerous. Did the child (and in this case, the parents) fully understand the consequences of operating that piece of machinery… I’m thinking not.
Congrats to Yamaha.
08/31/09
08/31/09
These are usually people that didn't have the experience of an endo on a Honda 50 at 6 (first indication to me that the helmet I was wearing might be important) years old themselves and have no business turning their children loose on these things.
Then again, my daughter had more sense than I (as an adult) when she was a child so I might have been somewhat lucky. I've always been one of those "do as I say, not as I do-your father is a confirmed idiot" kind of dads.
08/31/09
08/31/09
The difference between you and those parents is that you KNOW what you do is maybe not the safest way to do things, and instruct your daughter accordingly. Somehow I doubt that was the case in this situation. I’m not sure what the specs are for the Rhino, but I know my Grizzly will do 110km/h… that information alone leads me to believe a 13 year old probably should not be operating that ATV unless it has a speed lockout. Rolling the thing doesn’t require you to be going much beyond 1km/h, depending on terrain. Experience is a big factor to take into account. Granted, he should have been wearing a seatbelt and helmet, but would someone more experienced have known the ATV would roll if driven where and how Forest did?
Don’t get me wrong though, I do feel bad for the family. I’m not completely cold and heartless.
08/31/09
08/31/09
If Yamaha would simply make these ATVs with a wheelbase of about 10ft wide, a wheelbase about 14ft long.... They'd violate the laws of space-time!
08/31/09
If Yamaha would simply make these ATVs with a wheeltrack of about 10ft, a wheelbase about 14ft long, install full size doors and then install automatic robotic seat belts, this kind of thing could be avoided.
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
If a 13-year old is going to operate one of these, they'd better know how to operate it, know where you can drive it and where you shouldn't, and know what to do if something goes wrong.
And most importantly, not wearing a helmet and seatbelt is always asking for trouble. I am assuming this is not an instance where the operater simply forgot to wear a helmet "this time", but never wore them.
We are not a full-on nanny state, and the engine will start even if we don't wear helmets seatbelts (about 20% of Americans still don't wear them in their cars.)
But understanding the mortal risks of ignoring the safety rules is the responsibility of those who ignore them, not those who made them.
08/31/09
08/31/09
I did the "Here, hold my beer" Saturday night on my Quad. Whole lot of stupid in me driving home when the weather and I where three sheets of rain to the wind.
08/31/09
08/31/09
Oh well, just another myth in the ongoing culture war. By the way, where were the parents when the kid was using this thing?
08/31/09
Here's a good example:
[thinkprogress.org]
08/31/09
Zappa's "Dumb All Over" springs to mind here.
08/31/09
Good for Yamaha. The Rhino is a good rig if you follow the proper use and don't try to be a dumb ass on one. That I am speaking from experience.
Being a dumb ass. I am really good at doing that.
Amazing I haven't died on my ATVs. I have done some really dumb things and I am amazed my Three Wheeler is still up and running after the abuse I put it through.
Remember those things? Remember how they where outlawed because they where so dangerous? Pfffft, that little Honda 110cc I grew up on never did anything to me that I didn't deserve.
08/31/09
That's why I stuck with a dirt bike. Some of my dumb-ass friends bout trikes and quads. I kept my own super-dumb-ass on a machine that would fall over before I got into two much trouble. That was the theory anyway.
08/31/09
08/31/09
I do however know what it feels like to teach one the use of a vehicle and safety equipment and to supervise the use of them. Some people don't get it, they have no business operating machinery. If they can't follow the rules then they shouldn't be on it.
You let your kid out without safety equipment and proper instruction, you're a dumbass. You failed, not Yamaha. I won't even take a kid for a ride on a motorcycle without ALL of it. No exceptions. Accidents are always a possibility regardless of skill or experience. It wouldn't be much fun if it wasn't dangerous, speaking for myself.
All the lawsuits I've missed out regardless of my own carelessness and negligence. Damn.
Never really felt the need for a quad. It would be nice to have one to plow the sidewalks in the winter (actually as a lame excuse to zip around town on one) but I've flipped enough bikes. Just can't justify it.
08/31/09
@lilwillie hides autos in the attic: Here's my "Hey ya'll watch this!" quad picture:
08/31/09
Just to clarify.
08/31/09
Nice! Hill Climbing is always fun stuff! My father raced Harley hill climbers back in the 60's around Southern Wisconsin. He scared me away from bikes with his carnage stories.
08/31/09
No need to clarify. I think everyone feels the same. In the end, the old rule applies.
"You can't fix stupid."
08/31/09
Just the other day I saw a 10 year old speeding down a hill on a bicylde. Both hands went off the bars to catch a helmet that wasn't strapped. Then he grabbed the bars and hit the front brake too hard, went head over heels onto the pavement while the helmet went flying. He missed smacking the back of his head on the pavement by inches. As he got up to get yelled at by his mother (who saw the whole thing) I pushed my heart back down my throat and re-affirmed my commitment to make sure my son always wears his helmet any time wheels are under him.
08/31/09
08/31/09
/on related note, I've been listening to the newest DMB album for a couple weeks
08/31/09
Anyways... I'm glad to see Yamaha wasn't held responsible for this accident. If the safety equipment wasn't even in use, and the vehicle was being driven stupidly, that's operator error.
08/31/09
08/31/09
Hm. Volkswagen drivers listening to DMB. We hardly pander to stereotypes at all, do we?
08/31/09