Jury orders John Deere to pay $5 million for Stillwater man's tractor death

[ruffdog]

The short version:

What a lot of people get wrong about the infamous 1994 McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit - Vox

 

[desertdog71]

Eventually we will have labels on forks that say don't insert into wall outlets, pencils that say don't insert into your ear. C'mon if you put a hot beverage into your lap you run the risk of spilling it and burning yourself. Unfortunate yes, negligence? I don't see it.

 

[dragoneggs]

I need to interogate my father the next time I speak with him for the details. I bet I'm not far off even though it was a wild guess and nice even number. If I BS it's not intentional.

Hey just bustin' your chops a bit, IT! If he did get that kind of mileage we need to know Brand and Model number!

 

[paulfun9]

more on the case here:
Re: Shylah D. Beall v. Deere & Company and P & K Equipment, Inc.

states there was a box blade on the 3ph at the time it rolled..

I also saw "the rest of the story" with the burned woman. It was very severe and nothing to joke about.

I won稚 joke about it but I also was brought up to be smart enough not to open a lid on hot product in a moving car. I am also smart enough that I use cup holders, even way back when you had to buy or build your own because cars were not built to be a kitchen table. So anytime you improvise and use the drive threw to pick up and transport your food or drink I feel anything more Han the transporting is a risk you have personally taken! She should have gotten nothing, and consider herself lucky I wasn稚 on the jury!

 

[paulfun9]

As for the accident starting this post I would have many questions that need to be answered.

How high was the load?
Was the tractor being driven downhilll with a load in the bucket?
Exactly what direction is written in the manual about ballast and direction of travel?
Does the manual state safe travel height?
Was the operator wearing thier seat belt?
Was the ROPS up or down?
Did the operator read the owners manual?

These and some not listed would have me as jurist decideing one way or the other?

 

[Wagtail]

I agree with everything you pose and ponder paulfun9. Most of which are related to experience, or lack thereof, of the unfortunate operator.

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I had the opportunity to take a government 'ticketed' material handling course through the Navy. Particularly classroom and practical operation of a forklift (including up/down inclines) led to my being able to transfer those skills to when I bought my FEL equipped 4105. Other navy training has left me as a 'safety pedantic', especially as I live alone so there's little likelihood of a rapid response if I 'stuff up'. As I said before, everything that I learnt on that course I was able to transfer to operating my tractor.

Perhaps dealerships could offer a SCUT/CUT 'course' on a Saturday or Sunday to new tractor owners... they could use one or two of their mid-HP demo tractors for the practical part.

When I decided to go for my motorcycle licence, before I could even be provided with a learners licence to even get on a bike, let alone buy one, I had to pay for and take a State preliminary riders course, on a closed 'track'... classroom and then practical. They provided everything, including either a beginner's cc motorcycle or 125cc motorscooter. You had to pass that course before anything else. Later on, the Navy then offered to pay for advanced defensive riding courses (level I & II)... I took them too.

One of the dealerships that I had my bike serviced at offered a free (Saturday arvo/evening with free pizza/soft drinks for tea) generic maintenance course. It was a great promotional event for the dealership.

 

[Diggin It]

Let's say you buy a new tractor, check it all out, drive somewhere on your property, start going down a hill, it starts accelerating, you can't stop it, and it runs down the hill and hits a tree. No one is hurt, but the tractor is damaged badly.

I've kind of been skimming this thread, but let's run with that one since it's so close to what happened to me.

First few days after I got mine, I started up one of my hills. Without warning, the tractor lost forward motion and started downhill, backwards, no brakes, no control at all other than steering. Thinking I had slipped on mud or wet grass, I started up again and the same thing happened. Remembering something I had read in the manual, I turned around and backed up the same hill without further incident. Contacted the dealer who didn't really understand how that could happen. They picked it up and found that one tire was slipping on the wheel due to a RimGuard leak between the tire and rim. Removed both tires, cleaned thoroughly, added bead sealant, remounted and returned to me at no cost.

No damage to the machine, no injury to me. If either of those HAD happened, who would I sue? LS? Dealer? RimGuard?

There is certainly nothing in the manual to cover that.

 

[MossRoad]

I won稚 joke about it but I also was brought up to be smart enough not to open a lid on hot product in a moving car. I am also smart enough that I use cup holders, even way back when you had to buy or build your own because cars were not built to be a kitchen table. So anytime you improvise and use the drive threw to pick up and transport your food or drink I feel anything more Han the transporting is a risk you have personally taken! She should have gotten nothing, and consider herself lucky I wasn稚 on the jury!

The car was parked, not moving.

 

[kevin37b]

John Deere lost on emotion not fact , another 300 posts will sort it out here . The JD rep dropped the ball , as in attitude and knowledge . Carry on . Kevin .

 

[paulfun9]

The car was parked, not moving.

I still to this day don’t believe it was parked. Didn’t back then and still don’t!

One of the businesses I used to own was also sued over a very similar incident and they too tried to say parked, but fortunately someone offered testimony that they pulled into traffic abruptly and then swung back into the lot via the other entrence. Thank god for regular. Customers who enjoy a window view while they eat breakfast.