Trash Truck Causes Traffic Trouble In Bensalem

by Alex Lloyd Gross

July 17,2023

Most trash trucks  are equipped with “arms” that raise up. They are slid into slots of trash dumpsters,the arms lift the dumpster up and the contents spill into the truck.  Trash trucks are to be driven on the road with  the arms retracted, so no vehicles get hit and they absolutely should not be driven with the arms up in the air with a dumpster attached. Yet that is what happened in Bensalem This evening around 6:00 PM

The truck was driven down Street Road on the 1900 block when the dumpster and arms of the truck came in contact with live electrical wires. The next thing to happen was the wires came down across Street Road along with a utility pole.  There was a power outage which set off multiple burglar and fire alarms. in the area.  Many businesses lost power.

Police said there were no injuries. Traffic was a mess. At first, westbound traffic was closed at Knights Rd and all traffic on Street Road was shut at Hulmeville Road.   There were major delays on side streets to get around, such as Knights Road and Hulmeville Road.  Fire Police were called and will be on scene until PECO can arrive and install another pole and string the wires to that pole.