The Quickshift
- Two riders were out on a Harley-Davidson trike in 2020 when they lost control
- One of the riders died, while the other injured
- Harley-Davidson has now been ordered to pay $287 million to them and their families
While many motorcycle accidents can be attributed to poor riding, poor driving, or poor conditions, sometimes it's truly well the motorcycle's fault. Parts break, manufacturers fail to recognize issues before recalls, and designs aren't always tested in the way they should be.
In 2020, Harold Morris and Pamela SinClair were out on a ride together on their Harley-Davidson close to the New York, Pennsylvania border when tragedy struck. The two were riding a Harley trike when the motorcycle "veered off the road and crashed" according to The Buffalo News. Morris was injured in the crash, while SinClair lost her life.
After the accident, Morris and SinClair's estate sued Harley-Davidson, laying blame on the crash for a bad traction control system. The case just wrapped up and Morris and SinClair won, but not before the jury awarded the two $287 million in damages.
That's a lot of money that the Motor Company just lost.
“The money is great, don’t get me wrong,” Morris said to the local outlet, adding, “But the main reason for the lawsuit was that we wanted to hold Harley-Davidson responsible. I would not want any other Harley owner to go through what I have over the past four years.”
Morris and SinClair's lawyers successfully argued that Harley took shortcuts to get its trikes on the road, including with regard to its traction control system. Harley doesn't release how many trikes it builds, lumping it into the rest of its cruiser production statistics, so it's unclear how many trikes could be affected by such issues.
Harley-Davidson's lawyers, however, are still committed to fighting this ruling. "All I am authorized to tell you is that Harley-Davidson respectfully disagrees with the verdict and is planning to appeal,” said Mark Kircher, the company's lead lawyer for the case.
The company has been in some interesting crosshairs as of late, with a portion of its customer base going after it for what it perceives as being "woke," its board has faced allegations of its customer base aging out, two large dealership scandals (one in the US and one in Japan), production moving to Thailand, and the long-simmering issue of LiveWire—the brand's EV arm—losing cash hand over fist for every quarter it's been in operation.
This fine, then, only adds to its woes.
As mentioned earlier, Harley-Davidson's lawyers plan to appeal the jury's decision, but for the moment, they're staring down a cool quarter of a billion-dollar payout to Morris and SinClair, representing one of the biggest awards ever in regard to a product liability case.
We'll bring you more when and if it arrives.
