PECO Energy Company has filed a lawsuit in district court against a truck driver, the driver’s parent company, Comcast and Verizon, in connection with a 2019 incident involving downed wires in Hatfield Township.
The lawsuit was filed on July 7 in Magisterial District Judge Andrea Duffy’s court, and seeks $12,000 from the four named defendants. Attorney’s for PECO allege that the truck driver was negligently driving the tractor trailer during the course of his employment with Pattar Logistics LLC, which caused him to strike and pull down overhead wires and a utility pole along the 1700 block of North Broad Street on July 8, 2019.
“[The driver] failed to maintain a proper lookout and failed to ensure that he had adequate overhead clearance,” the filing alleges. “Pattar is vicariously liable for [the driver’s] negligence under the theory of ‘respondeat superior.’ The force of the pull on the wires caused Plaintiff’s utility pole to be pulled down and damaged Plaintiff’s transformer, which was attached to the pole.”
Court records show the driver was not issued a citation following the incident, which shut down portions of North Broad Street near Lynwood Road and caused a local power outage.
In addition to the truck driver and his parent company, PECO also named Comcast and Verizon as co-defendants, alleging that their low-hanging wires violated overhead height requirements as well as claiming that the wires were negligently inspected and maintained by the co-defendant companies.
A Civil Action Hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 27 at 8:30 a.m. in front of Judge Duffy. North Penn Now has not received a response to our request for comment from Comcast or Verizon.
See also:
Tractor Trailer Knocks Down Wires On North Broad Street In Hatfield Township
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