Motor Sports Cos. Pay $4.3 Million to Settle Allegations. Baja Inc. and One World Technologies Inc. have agreed to pay $4.3 million to settle allegations that they failed to warn about defects with their minibikes and go-karts, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.
Federal law requires manufacturers, retailers and distributors to report information about defects within 24 hours. The CPSC alleges that Baja and One World Technologies only informed the agency of defects after receiving several injury reports and implementing design changes.
Two Defects In Minibikes And Go- Karts
There were two defects in some of the companies’ minibikes and go-karts that were distributed in the United States between 2004 and 2010, Law360 reports. In 308,000 units, the gas cap can leak or detach, potentially burning riders. The other issue is that the throttle can stick on some vehicles, leading to sudden acceleration. CPSC said that Baja was aware of two dozen complaints about this issue by the time it was reported.
The settlement stated that four reported fires were linked to the gas cap defect.
The affected vehicles were recalled in July 2010. At the time of the recall, the companies had already settled several personal injury lawsuits over the defects, the settlement states.
The terms of the settlement require the companies to maintain a program that ensures compliance with safety statutes and CPSC regulations; this includes procedures for reviewing and referring customer and retailer incident reports as well as extra employee training.
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