Dangerous ROV Off-Road Vehicles To Be Regulated
THere are many Off –Road recreational vehicles, ROVs in use in Georgia. Now, they are going to be subject to new safety rules promulgated by the federal government. We have previously written about efforts of consumer and safety advocates to encourage the Consumer Product Safety Commission to regulate these vehicles. Now, after scores of deaths and injuries due to product defects, the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted last Wednesday to write mandatory rules regulating the four-wheel vehicles.
There are more than 100 deaths involving ROVs since 2003and numerous injuries some leading to amputations.
ROVs, also called side-by-sides, are two-passenger motorized vehicles designed for drivers 16 years and older. They resemble a cross between a rugged-looking golf cart and a miniature-Jeep, and have a roll cage of metal bars framing the cab.
The industry proposed voluntary regulations for ROVs, but CPSC staffers said they fell short. Agency staff have expressed concern about the vehicles and rollover risks.
The CPSC will solicit comments from industry, consumer advocates and others as it writes the rules. This process could take many months.
ROVs first appeared on the market in the late 1990s. Since 2003, CPSC says 116 people have died, including young children, and more than 150 have been injured. Injuries have involved crushing fractures to legs, feet and arms and some riders have lost limbs.
Safety advocates say the commission's vote puts the industry on notice.
In March, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA recalled more than 100,000 of its Rhino off-highway recreational vehicles for repairs after two models were linked to 46 deaths in the past six years. In many cases, riders were not wearing seat belts, the commission said. And in a number of incidents, rollovers happened on level ground at relatively slow speeds, the agency said.
About 140,000 ROVs were sold last year in the United States.
