Cyclist disabled with life-changing brain injury awarded $29m damages after collision caused by inattentive truck driver "going too fast"

A cyclist in the United States has been awarded $29 million by a court after he suffered "extensive injuries" when he was hit by a truck driver "going too fast" and who "wasn't paying attention", the life-changing impact causing multiple fractures and a severe brain injury that is likely to mean he requires assistance for the rest of his life.

Heath Wilson was struck while riding the Enola Low-Grade Trail in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on 16 July 2022. At the time, he was attempting to cross at one of the trail's designated road crossings when Donald Beiler struck him at 29mph while driving a vehicle owned by the case's defendant, JM Lapp Plumbing and Heating LLC, the impact throwing the 51-year-old cyclist 25 feet and leaving him so badly injured he was in a coma for two weeks and his spleen needed to be removed, Law.com reported.

The severity of the brain injury means Mr Wilson, who previously worked as a nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, will likely need assistance with regular daily functions for the rest of his life and he currently lives at a long-term care facility in Maryland.

The defendants had refused to settle for their $6m policy limit, instead offering the injured cyclist $500,000, according to Mr Wilson's lawyer. Clancy Boylan, partner at Morgan & Morgan, explained how "for whatever reason this insurance company took a hard-line stance", but "they chose wrong".

> Cyclist charged $1,800 for journey to hospital… in ambulance whose driver crashed into him

On Friday, Mr Wilson was awarded $29m at the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, the verdict breaking down into $10.9m for medical expenses, $2.2m for lost earnings and $16m in non-economic damages.

During the week-long trial, Mr Wilson's legal representation explained how the cyclist had right of way and it was the driver's responsibility to give way, something he should have known having lived on the road for nearly a decade. 

"He was going too fast and wasn't paying attention," Boylan told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The court also heard an expert's account that the driver would have been able to see the cyclist from at least 100 yards away.

Defending Beiler and the plumbing company, lawyers from Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby argued the cyclist was experienced and "should have been aware of his responsibilities and all the necessary safety protocols that a bicyclist must take when riding on public trails and public roadways".

They claimed Mr Wilson had emerged from the trail at a "high rate of speed" in front of the defendant who was driving within the speed limit. They also argued the cyclist had no memory of the incident and there were no witnesses to the collision.

> Cyclist wins £6.1m in damages after driver hit him causing life-changing injuries – driver got £146 fine

"While the injuries that Mr. Wilson sustained are very serious, the incident that led to these injuries cannot be fully attributed to the Defendants … [he] should have been aware of his responsibilities and all the necessary safety protocols that a bicyclist must take when riding on public trails and public roadways," they argued.

The jury ruled that the cyclist was 15 per cent negligent, while the remaining 85 per cent was down to the defendants.

Prior to the case, Mr Wilson's lawyers had estimated their client to have suffered around $12m in economic and medical damages. When the lawyers for Beiler and JM Lapp Plumbing and Heating offered $500,000 to settle, it was rejected and sent to court. On Friday, Mr Wilson was awarded £29m.

Last year a jury in Illinois awarded a cyclist $9m damages against a utility firm after the rider sustained life-changing injuries when he crashed on a bike path that had been damaged when the company's workers parked their trucks on it.