Honda’s ‘Hunger’ ATV Defense : Firm Claimed More Died of Neglect Than in Accidents

In an internal report written last year, Honda Motor Co. attempted to show that its all-terrain vehicles were safe by arguing that more people died in 1984 in the United States from hunger and neglect than in accidents involving the company’s three-wheeled ATVs, court testimony revealed Monday.

Attorney Craig McClellan, who is representing a 14-year-old boy in a personal injury lawsuit filed against Honda, released the death comparisons Monday when he quoted from a company report dated June 16, 1986. McClellan is representing Frank Cusimano Jr., who suffered serious brain injuries in 1982 when he fell off a Honda ATC 110 that was being driven by an 8-year-old friend.

According to the report quoted by McClellan, Honda officials noted that in 1984 about 450 persons died from hunger and neglect in the United States, while only about 250 ATV-related deaths were reported. The report was generated while Honda was facing numerous lawsuits as a result of ATV accidents and when it was under intense pressure from Congress, the Consumer Products Safety Commission, several consumer and medical groups, and various states to make the ATV vehicles safer.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that there have been more than 300,000 injuries of ATV riders since 1969. Other studies show that about 7,000 injuries and 20 deaths occur each month in the United States as a result of ATV accidents.

Question Ruled Improper

McClellan asked Tetsuo Chino, senior managing director of the Honda Motor Co. Ltd., if he thought it was fair to gauge the safety of all-terrain vehicles by comparing ATV-related deaths to deaths resulting from neglect and malnutrition. Chino, who is also chairman of American Honda Inc., was prevented from answering by Superior Court Judge Ben Hamrick, who ruled the question improper.

Chino, 56, ended his testimony Monday after three days on the witness stand. On Monday, Chino, who was questioned for three hours by Honda’s attorney, Richard Bowman, spent most of the morning telling jurors about his educational and professional background.

In the afternoon, Bowman asked Chino questions that brought out Honda’s emphasis on safety for all the products manufactured by the company, from portable generators to cars. However, Chino also admitted that Honda’s own lobbyists reported in 1985 that a survey of recreational activities in the United States showed that only hang gliding and parachuting were more dangerous than riding an ATV.

On Monday, Hamrick also denied a request by Marilyn Huff, attorney for the San Diego Union, to allow reporters to review documents referred to in court and to review the list of exhibits and witnesses presented by attorneys for both sides. Hamrick has refused access to documents and other evidence in the case, and has placed both attorneys under a gag order that forbids them from talking to reporters.

Calls Coverage One-Sided

McClellan said that he would not object to allowing reporters access to the various documents and exhibits already presented in court, but Bowman urged Hamrick not to allow reporters access to the information. Bowman, who has refused to talk to reporters, objected that coverage of the trial is “rankling one-sided” and “embarrassing to the media.”

In denying Huff’s motion, Hamrick advised her to appeal his ruling to the state 4th District Court of Appeal.

“They’re real smart over there,” said Hamrick, who said the appellate justices would tell him “what to do.”