Carlos J. Copley has filed a complaint against Polaris Industries Inc. and Polaris Inc., alleging strict liability and negligence in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on May 23, 2024.
The complaint, filed by Copley through his attorneys Chris D. Pence, Jason P. Foster, and The Pence Law Firm PLLC, centers around an incident involving a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) manufactured by the defendants. On November 3, 2023, Copley was a passenger in a 2023 Polaris Ranger UTV driven by Dennis Lambert when it crashed in Mingo County, West Virginia. The UTV's roll-over protection system (ROPS) allegedly failed catastrophically during the accident, causing severe injuries to Copley.
According to the complaint, Polaris Industries Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Polaris Inc., a Minnesota corporation, are accused of designing, manufacturing, and selling UTVs with defective ROPS systems. The plaintiff claims that these defects include inadequate design of mounting plates and fasteners, insufficient materials used in the ROPS frame members, and poor integration with the vehicle chassis. As stated in the filing: "The Subject vehicle was designed... without safety features that would prevent a collapse of the ROPS during normal... use."
Copley's lawsuit details how the accident occurred as Lambert's UTV clipped a tree while negotiating a curve on Dingess Road. The impact caused the ROPS to fail instantly and crush into the passenger compartment where Copley was seated. This failure led to life-threatening injuries for Copley who lost consciousness upon impact.
The plaintiff asserts that there were numerous alternative feasible designs that could have made the UTV safer but were not implemented by Polaris. Furthermore, it is alleged that both companies knew or should have known about these defects but failed to take corrective measures or adopt safer designs.
Copley is seeking compensatory damages for medical expenses, physical injuries (both temporary and permanent), emotional distress, loss of income and earning capacity among other damages. He also seeks punitive damages to penalize Polaris for their alleged negligence.
The case is being handled by Judge [Name], under Case ID 2:24-cv-00257.