Manco Recalls Go-Karts Due to Hair Entanglement Death and Injury Reports
Manco Products is recalling about 91,000 go-karts because riders' hair or clothing can become entangled in rotating components, causing death or serious injury.
What this means for you
Highest-severity recall. Risk of serious injury or death is documented or strongly suspected. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.
Our severity reasoning: The source text explicitly reports one death and two serious injuries, which meets the rubric criteria for a Critical severity score of 5.
Plain-English summary
Manco Products Inc. is recalling about 91,000 one- and two-seat gasoline-powered go-karts sold under the Manco, Phoenix, Fox, Rattler, and Coyote labels. The recall involves two groups of go-karts: those with black plastic deck covers over the rear axle and brake (serial numbers 1757022 through 1855821 and 3000010 through 3050632) and those with a cross-over jackshaft drive system (serial numbers lower than 1757022). Serial numbers are located on a silver label on the floor pan in front of the driver's seat.
The go-karts have guards designed to prevent entanglements, but riders' long hair or loose clothing can still become caught in partially exposed rotating components behind the driver's seats. Manco Products has reported one death and two serious injuries involving teenage girls whose hair became entangled in the drive chain and sprocket. One 13-year-old girl died from a fractured neck, while another 13-year-old suffered a scalping injury and a 16-year-old suffered severe head trauma and lost consciousness.
These go-karts were sold nationwide from January 1983 through July 2000 for between $600 and $2,000 at outdoor power equipment dealers, specialty, discount, hardware, automotive parts supply, and agricultural supply stores, and motorcycle dealers. Consumers should stop using these go-karts immediately and contact Manco at (800) 293-0795 or visit their website to obtain a free repair kit with instructions, or contact a Manco dealer for free installation.
The recalled product
- Product
- Go-karts sold under the Manco, Phoenix, Fox, Rattler and Coyote labels
- Manufacturer
- Manco Products Inc., of Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Category
- Consumer Product — Go-Karts
- Affected units
- 91,000
Distribution
Distributed nationwide across the United States.
Related recalls
Same hazard · entanglement
See all →- Severe
- High
- High
- Critical
- HighPhilips Intera 1.0T MRI Quadrature Body Coil Seal Failure Recall
FDA (Devices) · 2025-05-21