PennDOT successfully convinced an appeals court to give it a second chance in a case in which a jury awarded a cyclist $5.5 million after he hit a bump in the road, crashed, and sustained severe brain damage.

The Commonwealth Court granted the state Department of Transportation’s request for a new trial. The agency had originally asked the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas for a judgment not withstanding the verdict, contending that the judge gave faulty jury instructions.