While zero-turn radius (ZRT) riding lawn mower manufacturers tout speed, maneuverability and reduced mowing time, safety advocate studies show that ZRT benefits are prone to rollbacks, rollovers causing serious injuries and even death (asphyxiation, drowning, etc.), especially on or near slops or embankments due to the lawn mowers poor center of gravity.
Mowing at all national parks has been suspended indefinitely because of safety concerns after a maintenance worker cutting grass along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina fell to his death.
The agency is reviewing safety procedures after 63-year-old man died at the Haw Creek Overlook north of Asheville. The seasonal worker’s riding mower fell more than 140 feet down a boulder-strewn embankment May 7. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was trimming a 12- to 15-feet-wide area between a wooden guardrail and a cliff when he lost control of the zero-turn riding lawnmower and went over the edge, said Steve Stinnett, chief ranger for the Blue Ridge Parkway.
A mowing accident claimed the life of an elderly Topeka man.
Homeowners discovered a zero turn radius lawn mower had slid down an embankment, overturned in a pond and pinned the man driving it underneath. Dover Fire crews used a wench to free the man, but he was deceased.
A Pennsylvania man was mowing grass with a riding lawnmower around 3pm when the mower rolled over over and causes severe lacerations. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Studies conducted by safety advocates have shown that the zero-turn radius rotary riding lawn mower, its speed control mechanism, and its increased speed, make the machine hard to steer and control near the bottom of a slope (walls, ponds, roads) which lead to increased skidding and possible rollbacks and rollovers.
An elderly Fruitport Township man with a history of medical problems sustained “significant trauma” Monday afternoon in an incident involving a riding lawnmower.
Police said the man apparently was riding on the lawnmower when it descended down a steep decline before going over a seven-foot-tall seawall on Spring Lake. The lawn mower landed on the man, police said.
Fruitport Township firefighters and police officers were on the scene for about a half hour. Muskegon County Sheriff’s deputies also were called in case of the possibility of a water rescue.
A Green Bay city employee died after being trapped under a lawn mower. It is believed there was a possible issue with her 1,700-pound riding lawn mower.
“Preliminarily it appears she was attempting some maintenance on the lawn mower itself,” explained Public Works Director Ed Wiesner. “The lawn mower was up in the terraced area, she was found in the roadway by the curb, and it appears that the mower somehow rolled back and pinned her.”
A 3-year-old fell beneath the zero-turn radius lawn mower driven by his grandfather while negotiation a turn around a tree stump. The child and his four-year old brother were sitting in their grandfather’s lap at the time of the incident.
Small engine expert Jay Sartain says they’re very dangerous tools. ”That’s an example of what can happen when you put more than one person on a zero turn mower.”
The zero-turn radius mowers are known for their agility and speed in cutting a law but are also be dangerous when operators aren’t using extreme care. A mower should only be operated by one person, a seat belt should always be used and review your owners manual for operating instructions.
For information on Lawn Tractor Accidents visit: http://www.edriccilaw.com/page/lawn-mower-and-tractor-accidents
A trial related to the tragic 2009 death of a city employee is ongoing in the Chilton County Courthouse. The city lawnmower he was operating flipped and crushed him. The family sued the mower’s manufacturer and local distributor.
The plaintiffs allegations is that the mower the city lawnmower was using did not feature a “roll-over protection structure,” which are common in newer models. The complaint reads that the mower was “unreasonably dangerous” and that the city employee wasn’t warned of the danger.
A 12-year old boy was airlifted after crashing a riding lawnmower which had been converted into a motorised go-kart (For pictures, click here: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/boy-hurt-at-kandanga-in-crash-involving-go-kart-made-from-ride-on-lawnmower/story-e6freoof-1226291475856). The boy was riding on an older-style riding lawnmower down a hill on his family’s property when it rolled over several times. The boy is in critical condition with multiple traumas to his arms, abdomen and his head.
