$25 Million Federal Jury Verdict for Motorcyclist Catastrophically Injured by Tractor-Trailer on I-176 Exit Ramp

In the early morning hours of September 9, 2010, Kevin Patten drove a fully loaded tractor-trailer along Interstate 176 toward a landfill in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. As Patten exited onto the Morgantown Road ramp, he was on his phone. At the base of the ramp, he executed a full left turn. Travis Sweigart was approaching on his motorcycle from about three football fields away, his headlights visible. By the time Sweigart understood that Patten was turning across his lane, there was no room to stop.

Sweigart hit the brakes hard. The bike rotated 180 degrees, skidded backward, and smashed into the left rear tandem wheels of the trailer. The impact drove the motorcycle's subframe and seat directly into Sweigart's pelvis. One of the emergency-room orthopedic surgeons who helped save Sweigart's life testified at trial that it was, in his words, "unquestionably the worst pelvic fracture" he had ever seen a patient survive.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as case 5:21-cv-00922, named Voyager Trucking Corp. and Patten as defendants. Charles Hehmeyer of Berman and Simmons tried the case for Sweigart. The trial centered on Patten's decision to make the turn while on his phone and with a motorcycle clearly visible in his path, and on the catastrophic force transferred to Sweigart's body through the subframe.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict of $25 million and assigned 95 percent of the fault to Patten. The district court denied the defendants' post-trial motion for a new trial, including their challenge to the court's jury instruction on Pennsylvania's sudden-emergency doctrine.

Voyager Trucking appealed to the Third Circuit, docket No. 23-2397. In July 2024, the Third Circuit affirmed the verdict in full. The $25 million award was not reduced.