An Oregon jury has ruled that John Deere is not legally responsible for the mutilation of a little girl’s leg from a John Deere sit down mower that kept the blade moving when the mower was put in reverse. This is despite the fact that industry standards and competitor manufacturers do the contrary. When other mowers are put in reverse, the blade stops and eliminates any risk of injury from backing over something.  There are apparently between 250-300 injuries per year involving machines without this safety feature, why would a jury rule for John Deere when their mower was clearly unsafe compared to other models? Well, part of the story the jury heard is that the father who ran over his little girl’s leg and mutilated it, has 5 children under the age of 9 at home. He left them inside the house without supervision while he went out to mow the lawn. He didn’t know his little girl had come outside until it was too late. Is it really fair to blame the dad for this tragedy? Are parents in Oregon any different than parents in Tennessee? When there is a catastrophic injury to a child, any parent in Nashville or anywhere else would feel a sense of guilt, but is that fair ? Any other mower would have done comparatively little damage because the blade would have been stopped as the father put the mower in reverse. Injuries to children are often tragic, and quite frankly this is an injury that was foreseeable to a manufacturer. It’s why all the other manufacturers have blade stops on their sit down mowers. Parents should be responsible for their children, but going out to mow on a hot summer day (like we have in Nashville) while the kids are in the house doesn’t seem like an example of awful parenting. It was just one dad doing what 1000’s of other dads do when they have to. For the full story about this verdict, click here.

Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Tennessee Auto Accidents, Tennessee Truck Accidents, Tennessee Wrongful Death, and Tennessee Motorcycle Accident cases.

Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.

Click Here to Contact Phillip

2 Responses to “Mower without safety cut-off Mutilates Child”