As Bill mentioned, occasionally a transmission line mechanically fails and falls into the distribution line below. I have definitely wondered as to the range of customer damage when it occurs. From the utility perspective it can be hard tell the difference between zero customer damage, and having zero damage reported because customers who do not realize they can file an insurance claim against the utility. In a couple of example fallen transmission lines I am familiar with, there were no blown distribution surge arrestors in the vicinity, indicated the overvoltage on the distribution was not as extreme as Bill's experience. Using high speed, communications assisted relaying should result in less collateral damage than slower overcurrent relaying.
Any time there is a metallic conductor in parallel with a transmission line, workers need to take precautions. This is true for conductors including distribution circuits, communication circuits, metal pipelines, fences, train tracks, etc. Is there some particular issue you are worried about? As far as the physical construction standards, I do not know of any special construction practices for distribution underbuilt versus stand alone distribution circuits intended to address induced voltage. There may be minor differences in cross-arm length to allow for a line worker to climb the pole past the underbuilt distribution. The NESC also requires additional clearance if the distribution and transmission are owned by different companies.