Lawsuit Filed In 2020 Fatal Pennsylvania Turnpike Crash

HARRISBURG (AP) – Victims of a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County that killed five people and hurt nearly all the dozens of passengers on a bus nearly two years ago claim in a lawsuit that one of the drivers was wearing noise-canceling headphones.  The wrongful death and negligence lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia claims FedEx driver Brandon Stowers’ use of the headphones prevented him from hearing warnings that he was about to crash into the scene of the bus wreck near Mount Pleasant. The complaint includes a photo of the driver in the cab wearing headphones.  The FedEx truck plowed into a bus headed from the New York area to Cincinnati around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2020. The lawsuit says one of the plaintiffs, a child identified by his initials, was decapitated in the crash.  The plaintiffs are 18 victims or their next of kin. The 95-page complaint names as defendants Z&D Tour Inc., the bus operator based in Rockaway, N.J.; Ohio Coach Inc.; Sioux Trucking Inc.; and FedEx Ground Package System Inc.  FedEx issued a statement Tuesday saying safety is its top priority and expressing “our thoughts and condolences” to the people involved.