A multi-vehicle crash last year on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that killed five people and injured approximately 60 others, including a Cincinnati woman, was significantly more severe because the driver of a FedEx semitrailer was wearing noise-canceling headphones, a lawsuit says.
It was illegal for the FedEx driver to be wearing headphones, according to the lawsuit, and he couldn’t hear the truck’s built-in alarm system that should have alerted him about objects in the roadway.
The crash happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 5, 2020, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, as a light snow fell. A tour bus with more than 60 people on board had already rolled on its side, blocking all lanes, when the FedEx semitrailer, driven by Brandon Stowers, slammed into the bus.
A UPS semitrailer with two men in the cab then struck the FedEx semitrailer, killing both men. Stowers was not seriously injured.
The driver of the tour bus, which the lawsuit says was operated by Z&D Tour, was killed. Two passengers in the bus, including a 9-year-old girl, also were killed.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court. It says FedEx was sued in Pennsylvania in 2017 after another of its drivers was wearing “headsets” in a crash that caused catastrophic injuries.
Attorney Alex Durst, who is representing the now-59-year-old Cincinnati woman who was injured, said she suffered a broken arm that required surgery and has post-traumatic stress disorder. The girl who was killed was seated across the aisle from her, Durst said.
“As a result of this horrific crash, our client’s life was changed forever. While she is grateful to be alive, she may never fully recover from her injuries, which continue to affect her to this day,” Durst said. “This lawsuit will allow a court to hold the defendants accountable for the lives they have devastated and, we hope, ultimately lead FedEx to implement policies that will make our roads safer.”
In a statement, a FedEx spokeswoman said: “There is no higher priority for FedEx than safety, and our thoughts and condolences remain with the individuals and families of those involved in this tragic accident. The allegations against FedEx Ground and Mr. Stowers are without merit and we intend to defend our position should this matter proceed.”
Officials with Z&D Tour could not be reached for comment.
The bus was traveling west at around 3:30 a.m. and was in a mountainous area of the turnpike when the driver lost control and the bus ended up on its side, according to a preliminary investigative report by the National Transportation Safety Board released last year.
The lawsuit says the headphones prevented Stowers from hearing the alarm system alerting him about the bus in the roadway.
The lawsuit also says the bus driver, Shuangqing Feng, was driving “at dangerously high speeds for the conditions.”
In addition to the Cincinnati woman, the plaintiffs include the relatives of the 9-year-old girl and another passenger who were killed, a relative of one of the UPS drivers who was killed as well as more than a dozen of the injured passengers.
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