Polaris class action says UTV rollovers cause injuries, deaths

A class action lawsuit alleges that Polaris vehicles do not meet requirements set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration because their utility terrain vehicles have a tendency to rollover causing injuries and deaths.

Plaintiffs Paul Guzman and Jeremy Albright say they purchased Polaris UTVs that contained stickers that indicated that the vehicles met OSHA standards.

The drivers claim that they paid a price of upwards of $20,000 for the vehicles, and paid this in part because they believed Polaris’ representations that the vehicles met OSHA standards.

However, the plaintiffs say they were financially injured by Polaris because had they known that the vehicles did not meet the advertised safety standards, they would not have purchased them or would not have paid as much for them as they did.

Polaris UTVs are marketed as having a rollover protection system, however, the plaintiffs say this is not the case.

The Polaris UTV class action lawsuit states that Polaris avoided certain safety standards by causing an adoption of new industry standards, which were part of what the customers call the “self-regulation revolution.” Allegedly, Polaris cheats the standards, or fails to meet them.

The drivers say that in the case of utility terrain vehicles, roof strength is important because the vehicles are likely to rollover. Allegedly, customers often base their UTV purchasing decisions on whether or not the vehicle meets rollover standards.

The Polaris drivers then go on to say that Polaris did not test the vehicles’ rollover protection systems using the proper weight, and instead intentionally used incorrect standards to make it appear as if the vehicles complied or appeared to perform better than they really did.

Allegedly, the insufficiencies in the Polaris rollover systems not only put drivers at risk for financial injury because they were misled by false misrepresentations, but put drivers and passengers at risk for physical injury or possible death if the vehicles rollover.

The drivers say that there have already been injuries and deaths cased by the problems, noting that by 2013 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded 388 UTV-related injuries and 231 UTV-related deaths.

Reportedly, 150 of the deaths were caused by rollovers. 

Guzman and Albright are represented by John Kristensen of Kristensen Weisberg LLP, Todd Friedman of the Law Offices of Todd Friedman PC, and Christopher W. Wood of Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora LLP.

The Polaris UTV rollover class action lawsuit is Paul Guzman, et al. v. Polaris Industries Inc., et al., Case No. 8:19-cv-01543-JLS-KES, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division.

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