Thank You

Questions? Call us now: 415.988.9828

Thank you for submitting your info.

We will reach out to you as soon as possible.

╭The Team╮

Who We Help

Altair Law® helps individuals and families find answers. We are often the first call after a traumatic event. We meet clients in hospitals or their homes taking the added stress of finding time to meet with an attorney out of the equation. Our clients include pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, passengers, workers, patients, product users, consumers, and everyone in between. We work for real people to get real results.

What We Know

A recreational off-highway vehicle (ROV) is a motorized vehicle with: four tires; seats for two or more occupants; controls for steering, throttle, and braking; and a maximum speed greater than 30 miles per hour. ROVs are also known as side-by-side vehicles because two passengers can sit side-by-side. They look and work like a high-speed golf cart intended for rough terrains like trails and sand dunes. Examples include the Polaris RZR, the Can-Am Maverick, and the Yamaha YXZ.

ROVs can roll over and cause injury even when used as intended. A driver’s mistake or a wheel catching on a rut in a trail can cause an ROV to roll. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has found that “[r]oll-over accidents are killing and injuring people at an increasing rate.” One of the known injury risks is that upper limbs can go out the window and be crushed by the roll cage when the vehicle rolls. Altair Law has discovered hundreds of occupants with severe hand and harm injuries, including fractures and amputations.

Some ROV designs are safer than others. The CPSC has been working with manufacturers since 2009 to improve safety. In 2014, the CPSC recommended that ROVs have a barrier or structure – in addition to the seat belt – to limit the occupant from being ejected from the vehicle. Despite this recommendation, many ROVS still lack a barrier, such as a window, net, or full door, to prevent hands and arms from being crushed by the roll cage during a roll.

Altair Law has represented and currently represents several individuals with serious injuries resulting from ROV designs that lack protection for hand and arm injuries. Manufacturers blame the injured party for injuries sustained during a rollover. However, under California law, a manufacturer is strictly liable for harms caused by an ROV’s design if either (1) the design’s benefits do not outweigh the risks; or (2) if the product performs less safely than a reasonable user would expect.

Third-party vendors and RZR users have also attempted to fill the void left by bad designs by fashioning aftermarket wrist restraints and window coverings to keep hands and arms inside the vehicle.

This website may constitute an attorney advertisement and does not contain legal advice. The information on this website is not a substitute for hiring an attorney. Neither the use of this website nor contact with one of our attorneys will create an attorney-client relationship in the absence of a signed attorney-client agreement. Our attorneys are licensed and practice law in the State of California and this website is not intended to advertise legal services outside of California. Any results or client testimonials are intended to reflect our attorneys’ level of experience and service but should not be construed as a guarantee of results.