Unanimous CA Jury Says Polaris ATV Brakes Have No Defect
Four-Week Trial Ends after 10 Minutes of Deliberation
SAN LUIS OBISPO,
Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2003--On July 10, a central California
jury returned a unanimous defense verdict in favor of Polaris Industries,
after deliberating 10 minutes following a four-week trial. The 12-person
jury found no design defect in the rear brake system of the 1993 Polaris
Trail Boss 250 ATV, as plaintiff Dennis Theriot claimed.
The lawsuit stemmed
from a June 25, 2000 accident near Pismo Beach, when Theriot lost control
of his ATV and skidded off the road. Theriot claimed the rear brakes
in his 1993 Polaris Trail Boss 250 ATV did not operate in neutral, resulting
in an inability to stop the vehicle when it suddenly popped out of gear
and forcing him and his wife to jump from the ATV, leaving his left
hand severely broken. He alleged the accident could have been prevented
had his ATV been designed with rear brakes in neutral. He claimed that
Polaris could have easily designed an ATV with rear brakes in neutral
by installing a mechanical foot brake. In addition, he claimed Polaris
was the only ATV manufacturer to have a design with no rear brakes in
neutral.
During trial, Polaris
attorneys and their experts demonstrated to the jury that Theriot's
ATV could have been stopped at the accident scene by applying the front
brakes gradually, instead of locking them. Plaintiffs' own expert demonstrated
this in a video, and was subsequently withdrawn by plaintiffs, but Polaris
was able to play his video for the jury. Second, Polaris showed through
a computer simulation created by another plaintiff's expert that had
the ATV been equipped with front and rear brakes in neutral, it would
have stopped only 0.18 seconds faster -- and in either case would still
have gone off the road. Throughout the trial, Polaris attorneys maintained
Theriot should not have been riding the single-rider vehicle with his
wife, as the additional rider interfered with his ability to operate
the controls and ultimately caused him to panic and jam the brakes by
applying too much pressure.
Plaintiff requested
an award between $300,000-500,000 for loss of earning capacity, plus
future surgery costs for three or more operations, past medical expenses
and wage loss, and pain and suffering.
Dennis
and June Theriot v. Polaris Industries Inc.
Judge: Donald G. Umhofer
Court: San Luis Obispo Superior Court
Case No: CV010513
Experts
for the defense: Mitchell Johnson, Polaris engineer, Roseau,
MN; Kevin Breen, P.E. ESI, liability, Ft. Myers, Florida. Michael Behrman,
M.D., hand surgeon, Santa Barbara, CA; and Steven Molina, Ph.D., vocational
rehabilitation, Santa Ana, CA
Experts
for the plaintiff: Russell Darnell,(liability/withdrawn) ,
El Dorado, CA; Steven Anderson, P.E., liability, Macinnis Engineering,
Lake Forrest, CA; C. Baring Farmer, M.D., hand surgeon (not called),
Avila Beach, CA; Dennis Blackburn, O.D., (treating physician), Santa
Maria, CA; Ann Wallace, Ph.D., vocational rehabilitation, Solvang, CA;
and Marianne Inouye, MBA, economist, Pasadena, CA.
Attorneys for the
defense: Timothy Mattson and Richard Stuhlbarg of Bowman and Brooke
LLP Minneapolis and Los Angeles offices.
Attorneys for the
plaintiff: Jacqueline Vitti Frederick, Law Offices of Jacqueline Vitti
Frederick, Nipomo, CA
Contact:
Bowman and Brooke, Minneapolis
Amanda Walsh, 612-672-3248
awalsh@bowman-brooke.com
Source: Bowman
and Brooke LLP
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