January 26, 2015 — A jury in Virginia has awarded $2.5 million to the family of a man who died when his Ryobi ride-on lawn mower caught on fire and exploded.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Frank Wright, an 88 year-old man who was using the mower to clean up his yard before Christmas in December 2010.
According to the lawsuit, a faulty fuel line spilled gas, which caught on fire. When the plastic fuel tank exploded, Wright was engulfed in flames.
According to The Virginian-Pilot, Wright was able to crawl 20 feet from the mower, but his wife was unable to extinguish the flames and paramedics were unable to save his life.
The lawsuit was filed against Ryobi Technologies Inc. and Home Depot, where Wright purchased the mower in 2005. The companies were accused of negligence for failing to properly design or test the lawn mower, failing to provide proper warnings, and more.
The following year, Ryobi started selling a “new-and-improved” model with a better fuel line and gas tank. However, they did not warn 18,000 consumers who purchased the mowers about the danger.
Five months before Wright’s death, an incident occurred in Indiana involving a similar mower. Although no one was injured, the lawn mower burned a house to the ground when it was put away in a garage.
Ryobi did not recall the mowers or notify the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). However, they quietly began offering a replacement fuel tank for mowers purchased at Home Depot in 2006 and 2007.
The federal jury in Virginia found Ryobi liable for Wright’s death, but not Home Depot.
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