2012 PRO AWARDS: Report and pictures of the glittering Industry Awards, incorporating Dealer of the Year Awards and Turf Pro Awards, held on the first evening of SALTEX
SALTEX 2012: Show review and new products on show at the leading turfcare exhibition
FEATURE: Compact Tractors: What's new in the compact tractor market
DEALER PROFILE: Winchester Garden Machinery, winner of the 2012 Garden Machinery Dealer of the Year Award
COURSE REVIEW: Sundridge Park Golf Club, a hidden gem seven miles from the centre of London
PRODUCT FEATURE: Wiedenmann launch a new line up of machines in Germany
US COURT RULING CLEARS DEERE Failure to read instructions was a factor in toddler's accident
The maker and seller of a lawnmower that backed over a toddler, causing severe injuries, cannot be held liable, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled last week
Kirk Norton was using a John Deere riding lawnmower in May 2006 when he decided to put the machine in reverse. Though the mower cuts power to the blades in reverse mode, users can override the feature and keep the blades spinning with the simple push of a button.
Mr Norton pressed the button and looked over his right shoulder, but he did not notice that his 2-year-old daughter Eve approached his blind spot on the left. She survived the accident but lost a leg.
Mr Norton sued Deere & Co. and Ramsey-Waite Co., which had sold the mower to Norton. The complaint said Deere had manufactured a defective product and that both companies failed to warn users about the defect.
Deere and Ramsey-Waite countered that Norton's use of the button did not make the accident worse. Even if Norton had not pressed the override button, momentum allegedly would have kept the blades for several more seconds - enough time to injure baby Eve.
A County jury ruled for the companies, and the Oregon Court of Appeals has now affirmed the ruling. "Norton testified that he did not read the instructions that were provided; the jury permissibly could have inferred from the testimony that no amount of additional instructions would have prevented the accident," Judge David Schuman wrote for a three-member panel.
"The accident would have happened even if there were no override option," he added.
The 2013 Event Planner in a new, larger size, will once again contain dates of all the national and international industry shows and events. Published with the December issue of Turf Pro/Service Dealer TO ADVERTISE GEORGE MILLER E-mail or 020 3603 7936
