Safety Expert’s Testimony on Label Warning Issues Admitted
Posted on August 7, 2025 by Expert Witness Profiler
This products liability case arises out of injuries sustained by Plaintiff Joseph Gonsoulin (“Gonsoulin”) while seated on an allegedly defective electronic motorcycle that unexpectedly took off and caused him to crash into a wall.
As a result, Gonsoulin sued both the manufacturer of the Beta Explorer— Defendant Zhejiang Apollo Sports Technology (“Apollo”)—and the bike’s American distributor—Defendant Beta USA, Inc. (“Beta USA”).
Gonsoulin’s theories of liability and the factual issues flowing from them are: (1) whether the Beta Explorer in question should have had a kill switch or a right rear foot brake, (2) whether the Beta Explorer’s throttle was overly-sensitive to the extent that it posed an unreasonably danger to its users; and (3) whether the Beta Explorer’s warnings were legible and substantively adequate.
Defendants Beta USA and Apollo filed motions to exclude the opinions of Gonsoulin’s expert witnesses: Mr. Robin L. Simmons, Mr. Edward L. Patterson III, and Mr. James P. Evans.
Motorcycles Expert Witness
Robin L. Simmons is a motorcycle mechanic and service manager with over forty-five years of experience in the industry. He specializes in motorcycle repair, maintenance, and safety inspections and holds technician certifications from several major brands like Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki.
He has also testified as a motorcycle expert in at least two federal cases and received nationwide awards for his mechanic training videos related to topics, including but not limited to: transmission troubleshooting and hydraulic brake systems.
Outside of his professional career, Simmons stated that he has been riding motorcycles for over 60 years, currently owns over eleven different dirt and street bikes, and holds a motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license.
Safety Expert Witness
Edward L. Patterson III is a Motorcycle Safety and Operation Consultant and currently serves as the Program Manager for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety’s Motorcycle Safety, Awareness, and Operator Training Program.
In that capacity, he oversees motorcycle safety instruction statewide and was certified as a Rider Coach Trainer and Master Instructor with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation—one of the country’s leading safety resources for motorcyclists.
Patterson has developed motorcycle safety curricula and instructional manuals that have been implemented internationally in countries like Indonesia, Zamia, Malawi, etc. In addition to his role involving motorcycle safety regulations, Patterson has also frequently testified as an expert in motorcycle accident cases across the state of Louisiana for over twenty-seven years. Finally, Patterson has been personally riding motorcycles for over fifty years and has a motorcycle endorsement on his license.
Accident Reconstruction Expert Witness
James Paul Evans is a licensed Professional Engineer and a nationally-certified accident reconstructionist with a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University. He has more than thirty years of mechanical experience with motor vehicles and around twenty-one years of work in accident reconstruction involving motorcycles specifically.
Evans’ work requires him to frequently conduct crash testing and assess vehicle accelerometer equipment, such as brakes, acceleration, and turn testing.
Evans has previously testified as an expert accident reconstructionist in more than 500 cases, both civil and criminal, across the country.
Discussion by the Court
a. Robin Simmons
Simmons’ extensive background as a motorcycle mechanic, combined with the relatively simple nature of the design defect and warning issues associated with the Beta Explorer, supported the conclusion that he possessed the necessary expertise to testify at trial. Additionally, the Court found no indication in the record that the materials Simmons relied upon—such as the Beta Explorer itself and the Owner’s Manual—or the method he used to review them were unreliable for forming a proper expert opinion
Simmons employed his “decades of practical experience diagnosing, repairing, and riding motorcycles to assess how the Beta Explorer functions, what mechanical risks are present, and how its features compare to industry norms.” To the extent that Defendants dispute Simmons’ credentials, the substantive nature of his expert opinions, or the depth of his experience with electric motorcycles specifically, they may raise these issues at trial during cross-examination.
b. Edward Patterson, III
The Court found that Patterson had the necessary background and expertise in motorcycles to testify about the design defect and warning label issues involving the Beta Explorer. His broad experience in motorcycle safety directly related to the very features at issue in this case, such as the absence of a kill switch and rear brake pedal. Accordingly, the Court concluded that Patterson was clearly qualified to testify as an expert on these matters.
As for the facts, data, and methods Patterson used to prepare his expert report, the Court determined that they were more than sufficient to meet the requirements of Rule 702. He reviewed, among other things, the Beta Explorer’s warning labels, owner’s manual, and advertisements relied upon by both parties’ experts. He also examined and tested both the Beta Explorer and Apollo’s RFN Rally Pro motorcycle, and conducted a comparative analysis with other similarly situated electric motorcycles. His opinions were not based solely on experience, but also on a structured inspection, side-by-side comparisons with competing models, and hands-on operation of the product at issue.
James Evans
The Court concluded that Evans has the expertise necessary to testify regarding the Beta Explorer’s safety designs and warnings. Moreover, Evans has largely relied on the same materials as those reviewed by other experts in this case and individually conducted rigorous scientific testing on the throttle sensitivity in both the Beta Explorer and different electric motorcycles. Thus, it cannot be said that his facts and data upon which he relied or his methodology are so unreliable as to warrant a categorical exclusion of his testimony.
Indeed, as Gonsoulin notes in his opposition, Evans “applied established accident reconstruction methodologies—such as velocity-time-distance calculations and mechanical analysis of throttle behavior—to quantify the Beta Explorer’s acceleration and speed during the incident.” To the extent Defendants argued that Evans’s reconstruction report would be unhelpful to the jury, the Court patently rejected such an argument, noting that his testimony is key to Gonsoulin’s case and proposes a likely scenario on how exactly this accident occurred.
Held
The Court denied the Defendants’ Daubert motions regarding Joseph Gonsoulin’s expert witnesses, Robin Simmons, Edward Patterson III, and James Evans.
Key Takeaway:
Gonsoulin’s experts have the necessary expertise to testify and otherwise will provide valuable testimony as to the cause of the accident.
Simmons employed his decades of practical experience diagnosing, repairing, and riding motorcycles to assess how the Beta Explorer functions, what mechanical risks are present, and how its features compare to industry norms. Patterson’s opinions are based on methodical inspection, side-by-side comparisons with competing motorcycle models, and real-world operation of the product in question. As for Evans, he “applied established accident reconstruction methodologies—such as velocity-time-distance calculations and mechanical analysis of throttle behavior—to quantify the Beta Explorer’s acceleration and speed during the incident.”
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Gonsoulin V. Beta USA, Inc. |
| Docket Number: | 2:24cv1005 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Louisiana Eastern |
| Order Date: | August 05, 2025 |
