Court Opinion

ID: 9710116
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:02:18.421744+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:54.328487
License: Public Domain

*563HESTER, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the finding of the majority to the effect that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of William Niggel, appellant’s expert witness.
I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which affirms the grant of the compulsory non-suit. The trial court ruled appellant had failed to prove appellee, Bedford Valley, had reason to believe decedent was not aware of the dangers involved in welding the tank of a truck used to transport gasoline, so there was no duty on the part of Bedford Valley to warn of the dangers involved.
Decedent was an eighteen-year old recent graduate of Altoona Vo-Tech High School. He had no experience or training with the type of welding involved herein. He was an entry-level welder. He had neither the knowledge, experience or equipment to perform the welding job safely. Decedent was in the process of grinding inside one of the four compartments within the fuel tank of a Bedford Valley tank-truck. That compartment had been steam cleaned. An explosion occurred in the adjacent compartment, blowing in the wall separating the compartments, killing appellant’s decedent. Naturally, there is no way of ascertaining whether decedent was aware of the danger involved.
The expert testimony offered by appellant and rejected by the trial court was necessary to establish the proper practices and course of conduct in the petroleum distribution business in regard to the handling of and preparing empty tank trucks for welding repairs. I would grant appellant a new trial.