Trek 2000
MARSHALL - A bicycle manufacturer is facing a lawsuit after a cyclist claims he suffered a serious brain injury when the handle bars of his bicycle collapsed.
Alicia Jacoby, individually and as guardian of the person and estate of Matthew Jacoby and as next friend of Lauren Jacoby, a minor, and Angela Jacoby filed suit against Trek Bicycle Corp. on Feb. 17 in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.
According to the complaint, the accident occurred on Sept. 9, 2010, as Matthew Jacoby was riding his 2002 Trek 2000 road bike along State Highway 7 near Nacogdoches.
Jacoby's family alleges that the steering fork of the bicycle, which is designed to hold the handle bars to the front wheel and to bear the weight of the rider while in motion, fractured causing the handle bars to collapse forward.
The suit states Jacoby was thrown head first into the pavement, sustaining an intracranial hemorrhage and a closed-head brain injury. According to the lawsuit, he has been in a coma since the accident and medical personnel have stated Jacoby will not recover.
The defendant is accused of strict products liability for manufacturing a defective and unreasonably dangerous product and for negligently designing, manufacturing, marketing and distributing a bicycle with a steering fork that can fracture. The defendant is also accused of breaching express and implied warranty of merchantability and of gross negligence.
With respect to Matthew Jacoby, the plaintiffs are seeking damages for pain and mental anguish, medical expenses, physical impairment, disfigurement, lost wage and loss of earning capacity. The remaining plaintiffs are seeking damages for pecuniary losses, loss of consortium, household services, companionship and society, mental anguish, loss of inheritance, exemplary damages, interest and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Curtis W. Fenley III of Fenley & Bate in Lufkin and Jeff Badders of Badders Law Firm in Nacogdoches.
A jury trial is requested.
Case No. 9:11-cv-00029