Personal Injury Law

Look Out Below... Er... Above... Oh, Forget It!

By Jeffrey Lowe

We've all seen those signs ? usually around construction sites ? warning of overhead power lines. Well, the folks at the Yahnundasis Golf Club and the surrounding area in the upstate New York community of New Hartford found out what happens when someone forgets about those overhead lines. It wasn't a construction site, and the lines weren't marked, but after a logging truck driver had put some logs on his truck in the golf club's parking lot, he apparently forgot to put his crane down before he drove away.

As he drove out of the lot, the extended crane caught on some power and television cable lines. The truck pulled on the lines until one of the utility poles snapped, bringing the power lines down on the truck. Police and fire personnel were needed to direct traffic at eight nearby intersections that lost power to their traffic lights. Nearby residences and businesses also lost power. The power company managed to get things fixed after about 45 minutes.

Thankfully, no one was hurt during the trucking incident, but the driver, 32-year-old David Uebele, was very lucky. He was also very forgetful. Forgetting to put the crane on his truck down before driving away was just the beginning. He also forgot that if there are downed power lines on or around your vehicle, you're supposed to stay in your vehicle to avoid electrocution. He jumped out of his truck when he realized it had been covered by the power lines. Thankfully, he did so without injury. But the biggest lapse of memory by Uebele seems to have been the fact that he forgot that his license had been suspended!

The police reminded him of this fact and ticketed him for driving with a suspended license and for driving a vehicle with excessive height. He is set to appear in court on October 7th. (Hope he doesn't forget!)

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on September 15, 2010 (boomark / email).