Eaton Peabody

Jury Finds Vacationing Motorcyclist at Fault in Heated Trial

 

Bangor, ME - After a recent week long trial, a Federal Court jury returned a favorable verdict for a Maine motorist who collided with a motorcyclist from Idaho at a busy Bangor intersection. The controversy centered around whether the motorcyclist had the apparent right of way. Eaton Peabody attorneys Berney Kubetz and David Walker challenged that assumption at trial.

“We felt the motorcyclist was very much at fault in causing the collision”, said Kubetz. “The small motorcycle was positioned next to a pickup truck so that it wasn’t visible to our client. Our client [the Maine motorist] only pulled into the intersection because the motorcycle could not be seen”.

The Idaho motorcyclist, in Maine on vacation, had been following the flow of traffic on a 4-lane, divided roadway when the Maine motorist pulled into traffic from a stop sign. The result was a collision in the center of the intersection. 

“Maine law requires a motorist at an intersection to yield to vehicles coming down the road”, said Kubetz.  “But the law also requires drivers already on the road to exercise good common sense in how they position their vehicles in the roadway especially when between vehicles,” Kubetz continued. 

Kubetz and Walker submitted evidence showing that the motorcycle was hidden behind a pickup truck rather than out in the open where he could have been seen by the Maine motorist driving a midsize sedan.

The motorcyclist suffered several injuries, resulting medical bills exceeding $100,000, and pursued a lawsuit seeking to hold the Maine motorist liable. Mr. Kubetz and Mr. Walker’s evidence was enough for the jury to conclude that the motorcyclist’s fault was equal to or greater than the fault of the Maine motorist. Under Maine law, the claimant was therefore not entitled to recover damages. 

The case is currently on appeal to the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.