Comcast deemed not at fault by Indianapolis PD

[dishcomm]

Indiana experienced a snowfall which made this particular road icy.
Comcast techs blocked one travel lane. According to local authorities, the workers used OSHA Best Practices properly and deemed the company not at fault for the several vehicle crashes
http://www.fiercecable.com/cable/comcast-not-at-fault-icy-pile-up-indy-police-say?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=4635959&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpVeVpUQTJaamRqTmpNMiIsInQiOiI1QklHUXBRUXNwenRmcWVZdHNUY1I0Z2RTUnBqNUJXMElQbVY2RVBuUGViU3ZHbXExN3Fhbko4Z3JoYlZTTVJSWHgwSGVWTFRJZkY4U1FPK3V6RFR4ZlAzSEM0NURHemJXbzJ1SXlQWEY1MjlabEdURVExXC9jVHlZem5VNU5janQifQ==
From where I sit,the techs while adhering to guidelines, ignored common sense and went forward with their work.
But for the presence of the Comcast vehicles, none of these incidents would have occurred.
There is a video in the link....The techs seemed oblivious to the vehicle wrecks around them and were not very pleasant to the public.
I think the company can expect lawsuits or at least subrogation letters from insurance carriers.
I would also sue the techs, jointly and severally as they made the decision to work when road conditions were hazardous which created even larger hazards.
Now, that is not to say some of the drivers were traveling too fast. Such as the person driving the pickup truck that rear ended a motorist that was using great caution.
If it were my job, I would have called dispatch to ask them to summon police presence until the work was completed. That would have been the right thing to do

 

[Juan]

Sorry..those drivers were driving to fast for the road conditions..not sure why you think Comcast is at fault but they certainly weren't

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[harshness]

The minute that the gubmint allowed Comcast to offer telephone service, they became a lifeline utility similar to electricity. With that comes a responsibility for quick return of service in an outage event and a certain freedom to do what they have to do to make it happen. Self-appointed "advocates" typically don't make the repairs go any faster.

When you involve law enforcement, that often takes a second lane to secure the safety of the officers themselves. This is mostly a non-option on a two-lane road but maybe they should have closed the road so people didn't feel empowered to exceed their capabilities.

Flagging would normally be required but as the tech pointed out, people need to say off the road and otherwise out of the way. I think they best they could hope for is to put some sort of "flares" out.

 

[dishcomm]

Sorry..those drivers were driving to fast for the road conditions..not sure why you think Comcast is at fault but they certainly weren't

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The cable guys were not technically at fault. However, they should have recognized the potential hazards of the adverse road conditions, the fact that they were working just over the crest of a hill.
TV and internet is NOT that important.

 

[Juan]

The cable guys were not technically at fault. However, they should have recognized the potential hazards of the adverse road conditions, the fact that they were working just over the crest of a hill.
TV and internet is NOT that important.

Telephone service is..I think you need to reevaluate your comments

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[dishcomm]

The minute that the gubmint allowed Comcast to offer telephone service, they became a lifeline utility similar to electricity. With that comes a responsibility for quick return of service in an outage event and a certain freedom to do what they have to do to make it happen. Self-appointed "advocates" typically don't make the repairs go any faster.

When you involve law enforcement, that often takes a second lane to secure the safety of the officers themselves. This is mostly a non-option on a two-lane road but maybe they should have closed the road so people didn't feel empowered to exceed their capabilities.

Flagging would normally be required but as the tech pointed out, people need to say off the road and otherwise out of the way. I think they best they could hope for is to put some sort of "flares" out.

The tech does not get to decide who uses a public roadway and who does not.
BTW, in some states, Maryland being one, all lane closures are accompanied by law enforcement.
I am not excusing the drivers who were driving too fast for conditions. They should all have been cited for stupidity. Speaking of police, where the hell were they. Obviously the cars were crashing for several minutes.
This incident was one big cluster.....Lots of blame to go around.
In my mind, Despite the fact that the techs adhered to all the OSHA regs, those are for normal conditions on dry roadways. Comcast should not have been there until the roadway was treated.

 

[dishcomm]

Telephone service is..I think you need to reevaluate your comments

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The majority of people in urban ad suburban areas have cell phones.....
I'm not reevaluating anything...This was a safety and common sense issue.
The repairs can wait.

 

[Juan]

The majority of people in urban ad suburban areas have cell phones.....
I'm not reevaluating anything...This was a safety and common sense issue.
The repairs can wait.

No..it was as FCC mandated issue that Comcast had to comply with

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[WiCkeDuDe]

Common sense died years ago, sorry to have to break the news.


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[harshness]

Common sense died years ago, sorry to have to break the news.

As did taking personal responsibility for our own weaknesses and failures.

Its us against the big corporations and we demand our large jury award for them not looking out for us when we're clearly in over our heads.

 

[Juan]

The majority of people in urban ad suburban areas have cell phones.....
I'm not reevaluating anything...This was a safety and common sense issue.
The repairs can wait.

Do you know how cell phones work?..they connect to land line trunks similar to the one Comcast was working on

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[harshness]

Comcast should not have been there until the roadway was treated.

Emergency equipment is defined for a reason. If you're on the road in such conditions and you don't have a life-and-death reason, you're adding an additional dimension of stupidity to an "act of God" and that's criminally selfish.

I live three blocks outside the city limits of a city of 180,000 and most of our road treatments (plowing and sanding) don't arrive until after our equipment has returned from the big city (Portland) and highways doing Oregon DOT roads. We had a minor snow and ice episode just last week and it was two days before they got enough resources back home to begin to reach most of the outliers.

 

[Hall]

I think the company can expect lawsuits or at least subrogation letters from insurance carriers.

...and Comcast's insurance carrier will respond that they are not at fault and won't pay.

 

[harshness]

...and Comcast's insurance carrier will respond that they are not at fault and won't pay.

It isn't up to the insurer to decide who is or isn't at fault for the accidents. That rests with the courts (iff fault is disputed).

To be sure, the insurer will go to bat for Comcast if it comes to that because that's how insurance works; the insurance company either sees to it that the insured is declared not at fault or they pay the damages. Either way, Comcast suffers a minor PR problem at worst that may be offset (or even dismissed) by their diligence in restoring service to customers who depend on it.

 

[Juan]

It isn't up to the insurer to decide who is or isn't at fault for the accidents. That rests with the courts (iff fault is disputed).

To be sure, the insurer will go to bat for Comcast if it comes to that because that's how insurance works; the insurance company either sees to it that the insured is declared not at fault or they pay the damages. Either way, Comcast suffers a minor PR problem at worst that may be offset (or even dismissed) by their diligence in restoring service to customers who depend on it.

Legal president has been set in these matters for a very long time...good luck finding a lawyer to sue

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[navychop]

Legal president has been set in these matters for a very long time...good luck finding a lawyer to sue

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Precedent, too

 

[harshness]

Precedent, too

When was the last time we had an undisputably "legal" President?

 

[Juan]

When was the last time we had an undisputably "legal" President?

Ever since we had auto correct

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[Radioguy41]

Indiana experienced a snowfall which made this particular road icy.
Comcast techs blocked one travel lane. According to local authorities, the workers used OSHA Best Practices properly and deemed the company not at fault for the several vehicle crashes

Following legal guidelines that don't apply to current conditions doesn't make you blameless. I don't care how important you think telephone service may be, it doesn't excuse ignoring common sense and putting people's lives at unnecessary risk. It's obvious Comcast knew early enough about the line issue and the weather conditions to make safety arrangments but failed to do so. In a court of law that's culpability, OSHA rules adherence or not.

 

[Juan]

Following legal guidelines that don't apply to current conditions doesn't make you blameless. I don't care how important you think telephone service may be, it doesn't excuse ignoring common sense and putting people's lives at unnecessary risk. It's obvious Comcast knew early enough about the line issue and the weather conditions to make safety arrangments but failed to do so. In a court of law that's culpability, OSHA rules adherence or not.

Are they supposed to walk off the job?..get fired?..they did nothing wrong..they followed the rules..no charges filed..just a bunch of clueless snowflakes who don't know how to drive..people who can't take personal responsibility for their own actions..always have to blame someone or something else for their own misfortune because they can't drive in the snow

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