Harold Morris had been a passionate motorcycle enthusiast for over three decades, finding joy and freedom on the open road since the 1980s. But that all changed on June 6, 2020, when a devastating accident near the Pennsylvania-New York border left him catastrophically injured and claimed the life of his beloved partner of nearly 10 years, Pamela Sinclair.
The tragedy marked the second crash in two years for Morris and SinClair involving their 2019 Harley Tri Glide Ultra, a three-wheeled motorcycle commonly known as a “trike.” Even more troubling, the deadly accident bore “striking similarities” to the first. Before long, Morris and Sinclair’s family came to believe a software problem had caused the trike’s traction-control system to malfunction, leading to both wrecks.
This past August, a jury in Livingston County, New York, agreed and awarded Morris and his deceased partner’s estate $287 million in damages.
“We presented evidence showing a lack of accountability from Harley from beginning to end,” Paul Edelstein, who, along with Arthur Blyakher of The Edelsteins, Faegenburg, & Blyakher LLP, represented Morris in his four-year legal battle, later told the Buffalo News. “We showed they took shortcuts to get their three-wheeler out to the public, and that they were not really honest with the public about problems with the vehicle.”
Harley-Davidson Trike Subject to a Safety Recall
Our client had once been among Harley-Davidson’s biggest fans.
The Western New York resident had served as president of the Harley Owners Group – the HOGS club – in Batavia, and he had traveled on Harley-Davidson to California and back on three separate occasions. It was ultimately his love for the iconic motorcycle brand, as well as plans for a fulfilling retirement together, that inspired Morris and Sinclair to purchase the 2019 Harley Tri Glide Ultra.
“With the two of us getting older, we thought it would be safer. Instead of sitting on two wheels, there’s three,” he told RochesterFirst.com last December.
However, the trike was recalled twice in the years leading up to the verdict, both times due to a problem with the traction control software. According to a safety notice published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the issue “could lead to an unexpected change in vehicle direction, which may increase the risk of a crash.”
A Close Call, Then a Fatal Tragedy
In February 2019, Morris and Sinclair were headed towards Sarasota, Florida, from Key West, along a straight stretch of road at 60 mph. Suddenly, the trike started veering to the left. Both Morris and Sinclair were ejected, resulting in relatively minor injuries and severe damage to the bike.
In November of that year, Morris received notification of the first Harley-Davidson recall and arranged to have the trike serviced. As detailed in the lawsuit filed by our firm, the servicing identified and cleared specific diagnostic trouble codes related to the trike’s rear braking configuration and Anti-Lock Braking System.
Although a report from Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles attributed the crash to equipment failure, “Harley-Davidson, through a lawyer, claimed that they investigated the Florida accident and concluded that it had nothing to do with the recall, and therefore his trike was safe,” Edelstein later told PEOPLE. Subsequently, the company declined Morris’ request to simply cover the medical bills incurred following the first crash.
Thinking all was well and the trike safe to operate, Morris and Sinclair continued to enjoy excursions on their Harley-Davidson – until tragedy struck on June 6, 2020. That day, the pair were cruising down a highway in Hamlin Township, Pennsylvania, when the trike veered off the road at 55 mph, struck an embankment and rolled over, instantly killing Sinclair. Morris spent eight weeks in the ICU before regaining consciousness, coming close to death himself on several occasions.
As he slowly recovered, his grown children looked to The Edelsteins, Faegenburg, & Blyakher LLP to take up their father’s cause. Our firm subsequently filed suit against the Harley-Davidson Motor Company on Morris’s behalf, as well as Stan’s Harley Davidson in Batavia and Robert Bosch LLP, the Michigan company responsible for developing the trike’s traction control software.
A High-Stakes Trial and a Landmark Verdict
The high-stakes Harley-Davidson trial got underway in Livingston County Supreme Court on July 23, 2024.
From the start, the company’s attorneys tried to deflect blame for both accidents by casting doubts on Morris’s skill as a motorcycle rider. However, Edelstein and Blyakher, alongside Dan Thomas representing the Sinclair estate, were confident they could prove that the trike’s traction system was solely to blame.
“We’re here to have the jury hear all of the facts in evidence about what happened in the manufacturing of this product and its failures,” Edelstein said after court adjourned on opening day. “We’re confident that if they hear everything, they’re going to see the truth. We’ve been waiting years to do it. Thank God, we’re here.”
On day five of the trial, jurors heard from the plaintiffs’ forensic expert, William Nash of California-based Nash Forensics, who testified his examination of the trike’s wheel sensors after the Pennsylvania crash revealed they were “damaged”, specifically the rear wheel brake connector. Nash also disputed that operator error was involved in the accident that killed Sinclair, and instead asserted that a computer software malfunction had occurred in both the Florida and Pennsylvania wrecks.
“Something was wrong,” Nash said from the witness stand, adding the trike’s electrical circuits were in “shocking” condition for a relatively new vehicle.
Ultimately, the jury was convinced, finding that the defective traction-control system had indeed caused or contributed to the fatal crash. Harley-Davidson and the other defendants were ordered to pay $287 million in damages, including $120 million in punitive damages to Morris and an additional $120 million in punitive damages to the SinClair estate.
“This is small town justice in a big-time way,” Edelstein commented after the trial. “For over four years, Harley-Davidson has been claiming that both accidents were Harold’s fault, which we knew not to be true. So, the first thing we had to do was exonerate Harold. The second thing was to make sure these horrific events would not happen to anyone else. The message this jury sent was super, super powerful. Companies putting out unsafe and dangerous products must and will be held accountable.”
Contact Our Experienced New York Personal Injury Lawyers
The Edelsteins, Faegenburg, & Blyakher LLP has employed three generations of NYC personal injury attorneys for over 85 years. Since 1937, we have worked tirelessly to achieve the highest possible verdicts and settlements for our clients. If you or a loved one suffered a personal injury because of a defect product or another party’s negligence, don’t take on the fight alone. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let us fight for the justice you deserve.