Jury: PennDOT shoulders partial blame in fatal wreck

Oct. 18--The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation shares responsibility for a January 2011 vehicle crash on Suscon Road in Pittston Township that killed a 15-year-old girl, a Luzerne County jury ruled Thursday.

PennDOT shoulders 10 percent of the blame for the wreck that killed Kayla McGrady because the road lacked proper signs to warn drivers of the sharp curve where the crash occurred, the jury ruled.

"If the road was signed properly, we wouldn't be here. There would be no case," attorney Greg Fellerman, one of the lawyers representing McGrady's family, said after the verdict.

The parents of the Edwardsville teen had sued PennDOT and the driver, Scott Smith, who was 16 at the time of the violent, rollover crash and didn't have a driver's license.

Smith, now 20, admitted negligence while testifying at the trial. He previously acknowledged he was driving 130 mph immediately prior to the crash and about 90 mph when he approached the sharp curve in question. The jury determined Smith was 90 percent to blame for the crash.

Jurors only considered liability in the case, as a possible damages portion was severed from the trial.

A separate trial to assess damages, using a new jury, is slated to begin Nov. 10 unless PennDOT reaches a settlement with the family before then.

Court documents indicate Erie Insurance, which held a policy on the car Smith was driving, already reached a $300,000 settlement with McGrady's family.

McGrady's parents, Ron and Tammy Coburn, thanked the jurors as they left the courtroom of Luzerne County President Judge Thomas F. Burke Jr.

"I have been waiting three and a half years for this. We knew something was wrong and we wanted answers. We were being stonewalled. We literally scratched and clawed to get here," Ron Coburn said. "I don't want this to happen to anyone again."

Attorney Ed Ciarimboli, another lawyer for McGrady's family, said PennDOT argued at trial signs weren't necessary at the curve, yet signs were installed there shortly after the family filed its lawsuit in May 2012.

"This verdict speaks volumes. This case was about holding PennDOT responsible for doing its job. This jury saw that," Ciarimboli said. "From day one, Scott Smith stood up and took responsibility. PennDOT didn't. The road was dangerous. They knew it and didn't do anything about it."

Wayne Means, a spokesman for PennDOT in Harrisburg, said the agency declined to comment on the verdict.

Attorneys for McGrady's family claimed PennDOT shared in the blame because there were no warning signs around the curve, a type that its own handbook says needs such signs.

"Scott Smith broke the law that night and he needs to be held accountable -- and he has. PennDOT broke their own laws, too. They want a pass just because Scott was speeding," Ciarimboli told the jury in closing arguments.

Investigators said an unlicensed Smith was driving at a minimum of 77 mph in a 45 mph zone when he lost control around the curve. McGrady, a sophomore at Wyoming Valley West High School, was ejected from the back seat of the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse when the vehicle flipped in the air, landed on its roof and struck a guard rail. Another 15-year-old female passenger was injured, but survived the crash.

Smith admitted guilt and was adjudicated delinquent in February 2011 in juvenile court on charges that included homicide by vehicle. He remains under court supervision and could continue to be monitored until age 21.

PennDOT attorneys argued the curve where Smith crashed never was spotlighted as a problem before and signs are not mandatory at all curves. Agency officials argued throughout the trial that PennDOT shouldered none of the liability.

Ciarimboli urged jurors to find PennDOT at least somewhat to blame.

"It's not zero. It could be one percent. If it is, that will be enough for this family," Ciarimboli said. "It will mean what happened in this courtroom meant something."

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