Contact our firm to schedule a case evaluation or to learn how you can prevent riding lawn mower injuries with proper safety devices such as a rollover protection system and a no-mow-in-reverse switch.
Is there any type of riding mower more susceptible to rollover?
Due to numerous reasons related to their design, zero-turn-radius mowers are frequently involved in rollover deaths and serious injuries…
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...
The injuries that commonly result from serious riding lawn mower accidents do not have to happen. Installing proper safety devices on these machines has been shown to effectively prevent serious riding lawn mower injuries and wrongful deaths. However, most manufacturers of these machines have not made such devices standard equipment. Due to this negligent disregard for consumer safety coupled with the foreseeable nature of many riding lawn mower accidents, attorney John Gehlhausen is committed to holding manufacturers liable for the serious injuries caused by these defective products. The injuries that result from accidents involving these machines can be severe and life-altering, and Mr. Gehlhausen aggressively pursues the compensation victims deserve.
As with any product they produce, consumer safety should be a manufacturer's primary concern. There are three common types of riding lawn mower safety devices: the rollover protection system (ROPS), no-mow-in-reverse (NMIR) switch, and ignition kill switch. These devices have been shown to effectively prevent the most serious injuries from occurring. Yet, many manufacturers still do not include them as standard equipment on their riding lawn mowers.
The possibility of a rollover accident occurring is very real for anyone operating a riding mower on uneven surfaces such as hills and embankments. A rollover protection system can prevent some of the most serious riding lawn mower injuries. Consisting of a lap restraint and roll bar, the rollover protection system is meant to keep the rider seated and within a sphere of safety in the event that the vehicle becomes unstable and rolls. The most serious rollover accident injuries occur when the rider is thrown from the mower and is then pinned or crushed beneath its weight. Most riding lawn mowers weigh between 400 and 2,000 pounds, and they would be virtually impossible to move by an individual trapped beneath one.
Some manufacturers have recognized the danger that rollover accidents present, and they have acted accordingly by equipping their mowers with the appropriate rollover protection systems. Still, many manufacturers refuse to acknowledge the potential danger posed by these machines. They have, thus far, resisted or refused to equip their mowers with this effectively safety feature. As a result, rollover accident victims continue to suffer serious injuries that could have been prevented had their riding lawn mowers been equipped with inexpensive, standard rollover protection systems.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a riding lawn mower rollover accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact our offices to schedule a consultation and let attorney John Gehlhausen fight for you.
While operating mowers in reverse, riders' vision can be obscured by grass catchers or other attachments. As a result, riders may be unable to see small children playing near the area. A no-mow-in-reverse switch disengages the mower's blades when the machine is put into reverse. Such a device would virtually eliminate the occurrence of serious and potentially fatal back-over accidents.
Though in 2003 the lawn mower industry adopted a voluntary safety standard that made the no-mow-in-reverse mechanism required on new mowers, manufacturers are permitted to install equipment that overrides this important safety device. This fact further highlights the negligent disregard the lawn mower industry and many manufacturers have toward their responsibility to consumer safety. In light of the growing number of serious and fatal back-over accidents that occur each year, the ability to override a safety feature seems to contradict the purpose and function of that feature.
Because the injuries caused by back-over accidents are foreseeable, riding mowers not equipped with the appropriate safety devices are, by law, defective. A no-mow-in-reverse switch would effectively prevent most of the most serious riding lawn mower back-over injuries. Yet, many mowers are still produced without this crucial standard safety feature. Attorney John Gehlhausen is committed to holding manufacturers accountable for their negligence and protecting the rights of victims.
A tethered kill switch will stop the engine if the rider is separated from the mower. Many push mowers have a similar device; the operator holds down a lever while gripping the mower's handle – this lever is connected directly to the engine, and when released, shuts the mower off.
If an accident throws a rider from his or her mower, a kill switch would immediately shut down the mower and disable the blades. Such a device could prevent the serious, and potentially fatal, injuries that can occur if a rider contacts the turning blades in rollover accidents.
The proper safety devices can prevent the most serious riding lawn mower injuries. A riding mower rollover protection system and a no-mow-in-reverse switch should be standard equipment on every model. John Gehlhausen is an outspoken advocate of riding lawn mower safety, and he is committed to holding manufacturers accountable for their lack of standard safety devices on their machines. If you or a loved one has been injured in a riding lawn mower accident, contact the Law Offices of John Gehlhausen, P.C., to schedule a consultation with our attorney.