POLARIS RECALLS & ACCIDENTS

Polaris Ranger ATV Accidents

Polaris Ranger accidents commonly include injuries following rollovers. ROV frontal rollovers, side rollovers, and rear rollovers can all result in the driver being thrown from the vehicle and suffering severe injury. The most common allegations of causes of ATV and Polaris Ranger accidents and injuries include:

• Defective design
• Roll bar defects
• Removal of safety features
• Defective safety mesh
• Removal of safety mesh
• Tire Blowouts
• Lack of driver training
• Poorly maintained riding trails
• Inadequate manufacturer warnings
• Brake failure
• Fire risks

Polaris Ranger Injury Cases

Children are particularly vulnerable to ROV injuries and deaths and riders under 18 years of age suffer about a third of recorded ATV and ROV injuries. In 2015, there were over 97,000 ATV-related emergency department visits in the United States. Many of these injuries were severe and life-threatening, including:

• Amputations
• Crush injuries
• Burn injuries
• Neck & Spinal Injury
• Brain Injury

Polaris RZR Fire Risks

In 2023, Polaris recalled over 27,000 Model Year 2021 RZR XP Turbo and RZR Turbo S Recreational Off-Road Vehicles. The vehicle’s clutch could allegedly fracture, causing fragments to be ejected from the vehicle, posing fire and injury hazards.

Other recalls have involved burn hazards. Fires related to Polaris RZR vehicles are not as uncommon as one might think. Recreational riders have suffered serious burn injury, and succumbed to fatalities following ATV accidents that have led to the ROV catching fire or rolling over and crushing passengers.

Without adequate airflow in the current design, the exhaust of the Polaris RZR creates a hot spot behind passengers that can burn debris and leak fuel. Polaris Industries has a poor safety record, and from 2013 to 2018, the company issued RZR recalls 10 times for fire hazards. More than 180 RZR fires have been reported and dozens have been injured.

ATV recalls are usually only issued after severe accidents and injuries are reported. Attorneys claim the company knew about safety risks and decided to conceal its knowledge of defective products. At one point, 160,000 RZRs from 2013 to 2016 were recalled, including 133,000 in the United States. Reports of melting and smoking side panels on RZR models have not stopped the company from selling the vehicle.

Due to Polaris failing to immediately report a potential defect, the company was fined $27.25 million by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Other Polaris burn injury lawsuits are pending.

Polaris has settled some injury claims out of court to hush the news reports, though consumer protection lawyers aim to better protect the public with widespread recalls and compensation for injured riders.

In December 2019, warned consumers that some 2019-2020 Ranger XP 1000 models were equipped with incorrectly routed fuel lines, potentially leading to ATV fire risks.

ATV Burn Injury

ATV and ROV Accidents are so common that many consumers consider them normal occurrences. But many ATV injuries happen through no fault of the owner. Defective and recalled ATV models can pose serious safety risks. The Polaris RZR is one such vehicle, with a dismal safety record.

Product Liability lawyers across the nation have filed burn injury claims and design defect lawsuits on behalf of ATV owners who suffer preventable accidents and injuries. Off-road vehicles can be a lot of fun, until they malfunction or when safety mechanisms fail.

Serious fire hazards linked to the Polaris RZR have prompted injured ATV riders to file suit against the company, which has been forced to recall several models of ROVs and ATVs over the last ten years. But the safety issues still persist, and Polaris may be responsible for hundreds of ATV injuries each year.

ATV Debris Intrusion

Fires and rollover accidents may be more common issues but debris intrusion is also a potential safety hazard. ATV owners often install extra protection to flooring and side panels due to a lack of floor model protection from sticks and other sharp objects. 

Companies sell floor guards, fender guards, or fender armor so consumers can protect themselves. But attorneys argue Polaris may have a duty to manufacture their UTV, ATV and ROV models with enough protection. 

There have been ATV injury reports related to debris intrusion. At least one man was operating his UTV when a sharp stick cut through the bottom of the vehicle and impaled him. Such injuries are considered preventable and foreseeable. 

ATV Recall Lawsuits

The safety issues for Polaris ATV and ROV vehicles continue. Another 100,000 vehicles in December 2017 were recalled for defective heat shields surrounding the exhaust, creating fire hazards.

Polaris was fined $27 million for failing to notify the CPSC in a timely manner of the heat shield issue. The penalty settles charges that Polaris failed to immediately report to CPSC that models of RZR and Ranger recreational off-road vehicles contained defects that could create a substantial product safety hazard. The Polaris ATV recalls have cost Polaris $340 million in warranty costs over the last two years.

Polaris and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a statement declaring that certain Polaris models (RZR 900 and 1000) prone to combust, and some ATVs that had been recalled and repaired had later ignited, resulting in the total loss of the vehicle.

Design flaws have shown up in several Polaris models and the company has issued dozens of Polaris ATV recalls. Polaris has termed these burn hazards “thermal hazards,” a soft euphemism for the tendency of RZRs, Rangers, Turbos, Generals, Slingshots, and snowmobiles to catch fire. Polaris RZR 900 and RZR 1000 models are still at risk of catching fire and injuring consumers.

ATV Lawsuits: Polaris Ranger Accidents

Polaris Industries has been hit with multiple product liability lawsuits due to allegedly defective ATV and ROV models that present serious safety risks to consumers. There have been over a hundred ATV recalls in the last ten years, and consumers continue to report serious ATV injury and ATV fires.

All-terrain vehicles (ATV) and Polaris ROV accidents cause thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths each year. Due to the inherent instability of certain ATV and ROV models, rollover crashes are all too common for consumers, and the safety features on ROVs and ATVs like roll bars and safety mesh fail to protect riders, and severe injuries including amputations are a real risk.

If you have had a serious accident with an ROV or ATV, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney. It is critical that evidence (including photographs of the accident scene, physical evidence and witness testimony) is preserved for a full investigation involving design engineers and accident reconstruction experts to determine the root cause.