hey everyone, new to these boards, and i have a question
I just bought my first atv, an 05 honda rancer 350 es, and have been loving it so far. I have a couple of friends with four wheelers also, and we had all planned on riding at my house. problem is, I don't own the land, my wifes dad does, we just have our home on it. He showed up the other day and is saying only I can ride. He is worried about lawsuits if someone gets hurt.(he's also a major a-hole anyway, but that's beside the point) Are his fears justified. Is there a history of people suing private landowners that give permission to ride atv's on their land. Thanks for any help.

 

I dont know if there is a history of it happening, but it is always a possibility. If they are on your (your father in-laws property) you are responsible for their safety. If they get hurt while riding there, they could sue. I wouldnt consider them very good friends if they sued you over them getting hurt because they outrode their riding skills. But they could sue you.

 

BTW welcome to the forum! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Thanks for the welcome and the info. And no, I have no fears of them suing, my friends aren't like that, but my father in law thinks that everyone is out to get something from him. Guess i'll just have to find somewhere else to ride with my buds

 

Yes, they could sue. I can tell you, friendship only goes so far. If, your house is on his property, and you want it to stay that way, then I'd listen to him. I very familiar with a case, where a family's best friend sued them. And the family lost[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] so, it does happen. And waiver forms are not much good either.

 

And, Welcome to the forums[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

You could have them sign a liability waiver, agreeing not to sue. Even that wouldn't do it for me if I was the land owner.

 

I think that this is the best way to go. It will make your father-in-law fell more safe and you would still be able to ride.

 

I wouldn't rely on a waiver. Most of these waivers are not written up correctly, and dont hold up in court, unless you have a place of buisness like a paint-ball field, or a bungy jump station. Things like that. Friends sometimes surprise you when it comes to money.

 

a little off-topic here, but is that why they put safety warnings on instruction manuals about how saying wheelies, stunts, and jumps is bad and you should <u>NEVER</u> do it, LOL ive done all those, and ive gotten monir injuries before, but if someone breaks their *** on a jump and tries to sue, the companies can say "haha, told you so dumb$hit"