The Polaris RZR, an Off-Road Thrill That Can Go Up in Flames

[drawoh]

This came up in Saturday's New York Times...

The Polaris RZR, an Off-Road Thrill That Can Go Up in Flames.

Any thoughts on this? I appreciate that NYT is not an engineering journal. How about the other ATVs?

--
JHG

 

[3DDave]

Seems like they are regulated as toys and not as vehicles and are often treated as toys.

It does seem from the description that the design leaves the header be close enough to flammable materials as to ignite them and that those materials are part of the seats, making for almost no time between when the fire is noticeable and when it causes damage. Ordinarily vehicles have a firewall to increase that time.

It's really bad when your safety director quits for ethical reasons.