As I recall, one of them was in a parade doing a series of tight turns (like in the video where he's doing donuts around the traffic cop) and was rear-ended by another car or parade float, sending it out of control. Thing went into the crowd and killed a spectator, maybe several. Never got over the bad publicity, even though it technically wasn't the Dymaxion's own fault. In a way the fact it was so memorable a design worked against it.
Of course, the fact that Buckminster Fuller had no business sense whatsoever didn't help much. Guy was more of a Tesla than an Edison if you catch my drift.