Hey run on down and buy you one!!!!!!!!
Polaris pays $950,000 to settle ATV case
Company pays up, but denies allegations it was late in reporting defects and injuries.
January 13, 2005: 1:05 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polaris Industries Inc. has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle accusations that it was late in reporting defects and injuries linked to some models of its all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Thursday.
The safety agency said the civil penalty was its first for reported violations involving ATVs.
Polaris (up $1.25 to $65.40, Research), while paying the penalty, denied the allegations, the CPSC said in a statement.
"This has been going on for a long enough period of time that settling was the most prudent thing to do," said Marlys Knutson, a spokeswoman for Polaris.
The safety commission conducted two investigations into Polaris' reporting. It found the company did not immediately report defects and injury reports about its ATVs and made engineering changes to the vehicles before informing the CPSC.
The CPSC charged that Medina, Minn.-based Polaris learned between December 1998 and May 2000 of 88 reports of throttles sticking due to defects in its Scrambler, Sport and Xplorer 400 models.
The throttle reports included 19 crashes or other accidents, and seven reports of injuries, including a dislocated hip, a broken shoulder, torn back muscles and scrapes and bruises.
The other probe found that Polaris received nearly 1,450 reports between March 1999 and February 2001 of ATV oil lines blowing off, disconnecting or loosening on its Xpedition, Trail Boss and Magnum 325 model ATVs.
This problem resulted in the spraying of hot pressurized oil with 18 reports of injuries, including second- and third-degree burns, scarring, bruises and scrapes.
In both cases, the CPSC said Polaris made engineering changes before informing the commission of the defect and injury reports and prior to recalls of the vehicles.
The safety commission said federal law requires that a company report within 24 hours after receiving information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect that could create a substantial risk of injury or violates a federal safety standard.
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