A federal appeals court has upheld the more than $9 million in damages that a jury awarded to a couple from Vancouver, B.C., who were struck by an 18-wheeler while riding their bikes westbound along Interstate 84.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week denied the trucking company’s motion for a new trial and argument that the punitive damages award was excessive.
Imposing punitive damages “vindicates Oregon’s interests in safeguarding its highways,” the opinion said.
The jury in 2019 awarded $5.6 million in compensatory damages, plus $4 million in punitive damages to Eric Moutal, who was 31 at the time, and Andrea Newman, then 25. The two were vacationing in Oregon, camping and biking in the Columbia River Gorge before a planned visit to Portland.
Jurors found Exel Inc., more commonly known as the shipping company DHL, liable for the Aug. 3, 2016, collision after a five-day trial in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Moutal and Newman testified they were biking single-file on the shoulder of the interstate between Hood River and Cascade Locks when they were struck by the truck that veered over the fog line and into the shoulder at a curve near milepost 52.
Moutal’s lower left leg was nearly sheared off. He underwent four surgeries at OHSU Hospital between Aug. 3 and Aug. 16, 2016, before returning to Vancouver. Newman, now married to Moutal, suffered cuts and bruises and still has scars, according to trial testimony.
“The jury heard that the Exel employee drove an 18-wheel behemoth over the speed limit down a winding road widely known and well-marked as a bicycle route, while repeatedly crossing the fog line and jerking back into his lane over the course of two miles,” the opinion said.
The jury appropriately and reasonably inferred that a professional truck driver subjected the bicyclists to unreasonable risks of serious injury or death, the appeals court found. The ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages also falls within the 4-to-1 ratio suggested by the U.S. Supreme Court, the ruling said.
“The driver’s conduct was highly reprehensible for causing physical harm and displaying a reckless indifference to the threat he posed to other motorists, especially to the vulnerable cyclists,” the opinion said.
Ninth Circuit Judges Morgan Christen and Jennifer Sung, joined by Arizona’s U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes, currently designated by the circuit’s chief judge to sit on the circuit court, issued the ruling.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
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