Hamilton County man awarded $8.4 million in ATV case

Jasper News

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February 3, 2012

Jeffry Boatright Suwannee Democrat The Suwannee Democrat Fri Feb 03, 2012, 12:38 PM EST

Jasper — A Hamilton County man was awarded $8.4 million Thursday for compensation of permanent injuries he sustained from riding a defective ATV, Hamilton County court records show.

According to the Didier Law Firm in Orlando, 36-year-old Michael Joseph Scott Corbett of Jasper test drove a 2008 Artic Cat Thundercat 1000 ATV at the Jasper Rodeo on May 4, 2008. While test driving the ATV, Corbett hit a divot, causing the machine to roll over and land on top of him.

“The ATV has a safety system which, upon tilting past 65 degrees, is designed to shut off the engine automatically to prevent injuries,” Henry “Hank” Didier wrote in a press release. “Despite such design, Artic Cat chose to use a tilt sensor that was known to give false signals about the vehicle’s position, and, as a result, the ATV did not shut off in this accident.”

Didier said that as a result of his injuries, Corbett will never be able to work again in the construction industry, where he was previously a foreman.

“Also, due to the severe friction burns he sustained to both arms, both legs and his abdomen because of contact with the spinning tires, Mr Corbett faces numerous additional surgeries in the future to address his wounds and scars,” Dieder wrote.

According to Dieder, internal documents of Artic Cat revealed they knew five months before manufacturing this ATV that it had a problem with the tilt sensor, but chose to leave the tilt sensor on the ATV instead of fixing it.

“This company put profits over people, saving a mere $4.41 per vehicle when it knowingly put an ATV with a defectively designed safety system into the market,” Henry Didier said.

After deliberating just over three hours, a six member jury awarded Corbett $8,471,147.32 for total damages as a result of his injuries.

According to records from the Hamilton County Clerk of the Circuit Court, damages included past and future medical expenses incurred from the ATV, as well as Corbett’s loss of income.