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On Saturday, a teenager visiting from Minnesota was killed by a Long Island Railroad train in a strange and scary accident. Natalie Smead and her father had been visiting relatives on Long Island, and she headed to Randall's Island for a Dave Matthew Band concert with other relatives and friends. She was getting off a westbound train at the Woodside, Queens station when she fell between the platform and the train car onto the tracks. And when she tried to get back up, the LIRR spokesman said, "She may have crossed under the platform to get to the other side and was struck by a train going in the other direction." Her injuries - including an amputated leg - were so severe that she died a few hours later. For all the people who take LIRR, how big are the gaps between the platform and the train? This gap seems almost unreasonably big if a person can fall through it.
Fall Off LIRR Platform Proves Fatal
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The gaps are really not that big on the LIRR. I'm actually surprised she fell through the gap at Woodside.
But how could she crawl to the other side like that? Let this be a lesson to anyone else who falls that they should just sit their asses down under the platform and call for help instead of crawling anywhere.
I don't take the LIRR often but I was on yesterday going to Long Beach. There are signs posted everywhere warning people about the gap between the train and the platform, but I guess this girl being from MN didn't realize how big some of those spaces are. Let me tell you that a child can fit fairly easily through the gaps but an 18 year old girl? She must have been REAL thin...
The LIRR gaps between the train and the platform are big enough for a child to fit through but an 18 year old? She must have been VERY THIN.
She may have become disoriented from falling and started crawling, not knowing how dangerous that could be, so please don't start blaming her...
If she was black, her and her fetus will go unreported. It's true.
The LIRR gaps between the train and the platform are big enough for a child to fit through but an 18 year old? She must have been VERY THIN.
She may have become disoriented from falling and started crawling-- not knowing how dangerous that could be...so please don't go blaming the victim.
If she was black, her and her fetus would of gone unreported.
Awesome repitition!
Da hell's the matter with the comments today?
The gaps on any straight platform like Woodside are very small. The only place you could possibly fit an adult size person is in the gap between the cars. No way could that happen by the doors. The story of how she got on the tracks doesn't ring true. The story of how she got hit does.
i have been taking the LIRR my whole life, and my whole life they have warned "mind the gap." and in fact, one day, an accident happened on a train i was on. an elderly man got caught - one of his legs slipped, and he was stuck halfway in the door (upper body and one leg) and one leg in the gap. it was scary - the LIRR kept trying to close the doors over on him, while everyone was trying to pull him out. luckily he was fine. but he wasn't all that thin - he could have fallen through. at some platforms the gap is quite narrow, at others, it's much larger. i believe woodside is one of those stations.
Yo, nryr, it's "she and her fetus". Also, not funny.
Fall into the gap? That is just crazy. I understand if you miss, perhaps a leg would fall through, but the gaps are not THAT wide. I want to see a photo of this girl, she must have been very small. This is a horrible accident. I have a friend who once slipped into the gap, but just his leg fell though, and he was a petit person. You have to mind those gaps, they are bigger than you think. I can't even imagine...
The gaps at Flatbush Ave. are huge in places - I can easily imagine a small adolescent falling through one, and certainly a small child. Seems like pretty bad design to me.
If she had just indulged in a burger from time to time she would still be alive (albeit fugly).
This can happen. I saw it in Boston on an Amtrak platform. An old lady fell down to her shoulders. Had she not had her arms out, she would have went all the way down. The conductors came to her assistance right away, but it was pretty scary.
I actually noticed the size of some LIRR gaps yesterday - they can range up to five inches wide. I had to make a conscious effort to hop over them.
(although this isn't where it happened) the gaps on the NJT platforms in Penn station can be fairly sizable at some points -- perhaps even big enough to fit a very skinny person into. I'm surprised nobody warned her not to cross the tracks (or notice that another train was coming)
i am not sure if it's still going on, but aren't the gaps at woodside freaking huge because they are doing construction, causing you to walk over a temporary iron bridge to board the train?
I don't think they're using the temp. platforms at Woodside anymore -- I haven't seen them for a few weeks, and I commute in via LIRR daily.
The gaps are sometimes wide, but honestly, anybody who's not paying attention where they're stepping when they deboard a train is going to get hurt somehow.
I had to pick up a friend at Woodside who was on the train that struck this girl.
She said the LIRR staff member who was making the announcements was extremely unprofessional, potentially startling a train full of people by saying "We just hit someone" and "She has a broken leg". Travelers do not need details in this situation, announce "Get off the train" and leave it at that.
The gaps are not huge but definitely big enough for a small girl to fit in. I really don't know how sh could have fallen in there though. Maybe it was slippery.
Another good reason to always look down and not to look people in the face. Not only won't you be bothered but you won't fall into a gap.
Be miserable like the rest of us. Be one of us.
In the Daily News today:
Death gap for teen at LIRR stop
BY PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The Minnesota teen who fell to her death at a Queens railroad station slipped through a gap between the train and the platform that may have been up to 8 inches wide, a law enforcement source said yesterday.
And records kept by the Long Island Rail Road reveal that an average of about one rider a week suffers some injury as a result of such gaps. Most of the injuries are believed to be minor.
Natalie Smead, 18, was on her way to a rock concert Saturday when she apparently stepped off a westbound LIRR train at the Woodside station and fell through the gap to the tracks, authorities said.
She crawled under the concrete platform in an apparent bid to find a route to safety, but she was fatally struck by a passing train on the other side, authorities said.
Investigators believe the gap was 6 to 8 inches wide.
The city medical examiner's office yesterday classified Smead's death, which is being probed by MTA police, as an accident.
Smead, who recently graduated high school, came to New York with her father. She visited relatives on Long Island before heading to a Dave Matthews Band concert on Randalls Island.
There is no federal safety regulation that sets a maximum width for the gap between platform and train, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesman said. The Americans with Disabilities Act, though, sets a 3-inch gap limit at newly constructed or renovated stations.
LIRR statistics show there were 59 platform-gap accidents in 2004 and 56 last year.
The LIRR released a statement saying it extended its "deepest condolences" to the Smead family, but declined to answer any questions.
Originally published on August 8, 2006
I smell a big time lawsuit here...
i hate all of you that think this was her fault how about you try and lose a best freind and you tell me how it would feel if people started saying it was their fault
it was her first time going to new york... yeah maybe people that live there know there is a gap...and ya there are signs but that doesnt excuse the fact that accidents happen...obvioulsy this is a big problem since there is 56 accidents this year from the same thing..i hope all of you that think this was her fault..and all of you making jokes about how she should have ate a burger...i hope you all know how many people are truly hurt by this tragedy and you have no right to say this about her..she was my best friend and ill never forget her but the last thing i would do if i found this out about someoen. is to go blaming things on how she was too SKINNY to fall through...i just dont see why at a time like this people have to be so rude... maybe some of you wont ever know how it feels to lose someone you love...but i just only hope that someday you will know how you made people feel that read this...and i hope that you arent as bad of people as you sure sound like you are
she was a beauty, ehh?
tell that to the blind guy that fell in the gap and no one cared because he wasn't beautiful. Not a word from the press about him.
Yes, those were almost his exact words.
What is this for? Is it for people out there with information on the LIRR who can share it for a better understanding? Or for low-life’s to put at fault a young woman with a BEAUTIFUL HEART that they never got the extreme pleasure of meeting? I know it's not for the many millions of people that were hurt by this story; or personally heartbroken because of it. I know this because if it were it would bring some kind of peace to them. All this brings to me is anger and grief and I realize how ignorant some people can be. For an 18yr old woman who weighs 110lbs and is 5'6" is perfectly normal, and for a woman that size to fall into a gap that is reported to be 11 inches (Woodside) is very possible (even if it were less)-->> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-ligap094845195aug09,0,5119993.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines
I love you Natalie, you are missed and loved by so many. It's a tragedy what happened, and nothing can help take the pain away like a kind word and helpful hand, like Natalie was always able to give.
Honestly, no one knows if she was just caught off balance by a rush hour crowd pushing off the train. It could have easily happened to anyone, though obviously the media has to sensationalize the "tourist-first-time-to-NY, oh-NYC-is-a-big-and-scary-place" angle. A very unfortunate accident.
Yeah, it's sort of crazy. I just found out about today... I didn't know her well, but she was from my town and was friends with a few of my friends... sorry this happened.
the gaps are not that big, but i guess a girl from MN would not know..but warning signs also make the differ...g-unit
Well, when I first heard this story I felt sad for the girl but was wondering how something like this could happen. If gaps were that bad, people would be dying everyday! Today it turns out that after a lengthy investigation, Natalie--18 so she's completely underage-- was DRUNK and that's why she died. LIRR offficials told her to stay put when she fell on the tracks but in her intoxicated state, she continued onto the other side of the tracks where she met her death.
If there's anyone to blame here, it's unfortunately Natalie. She chose to drink, so she chose to lose control of her faculties and made bad decisions that would end her life. It'a sad story but suing LIRR is not the answer. Using her death as a lesson to drinking underage kids may serve a better purpose.
You guys are sick.... you didnt even know her....
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what is going on with the public...the gaps arent that big. just look where you're going. these are commuter trains.
No one talk bad about her.. shes my cousin..and no she wasnet very thin she was average and she crawled under cuz she was scared the train would start moving i would have done the same...just dont say crap about her cuz what if yall lost somone close.
OMG yall didnt even know her..she is MYCOUSIN and NO she WASNT DRUNK SHE was tispy.. EVERY TEEN AGER DRINKS THESE DAYS..WOW YALL ARE SO MEAN..THINK IF YOU LOST A FAMILY MEMBER..
Natalie Smead was one of my close friends! I am from northfield Minnesota and have known Nat for many of years. And to hear all your rude remarks and gestures you have to say about her and her death is RUDE! Anything can happen to anyone, its freak accidents! and a common person is not going to just sit while they are under a plateform, they are going to think for themselves and how they should get safe! So to all you rude people out there, think about what if it happened to someone your close to...
You guys are very rude. How would you feel if it was one of your family members? I too fell down the gap a few days ago, i was tipsy not drunk, just visiting a friend to have a night out, the gap was quite wide so i fell, luckily my boyfriend pulled me out, just as the train was about to take off. I escaped with a minor cut leg.
I am so thankful to be alive. I really feel for natalie, and give my deepest condolances to her family.x