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The Long Island Rail Road has been starting to fill in gaps at certain train platforms in the wake of various customer falls. Eighteen year old Natalie Smead, visiting from Minnesota and on her way to Manhattan for a concert, fell in the gap at the Woodside stop and was fatally hit by a train when she tried to get out of the tracks. Newsday found that the gaps at Woodside were as wide at 15 inches. Oddly enough, the Woodside station wasn't on the initial list of stations whose platform gaps needed to be closed (at this point, tracks at Shea Stadium, Jamaica, Southampton and Deer Park have been fixed).
Smead's parents sued the LIRR for $5 million last week. Peter Smead said, "I would like to be face to face with whoever the decision-makers are who made the decisions that led to this. This is not a problem that the railroad was not aware of. They knew it, they knew it." There were at least 100 gap accidents in 2004 and 2005. The Public Transportation Safety Board suggested that "pictographic gap warning signs and stencils" that say "Watch the Gap" should be put at every platform in the interim while the LIRR figures out how to improve platform safety. And the LIRR was also sued by an ex-NY Senator who fell into the gap in Lawrence.
Newsday has a section on the LIRR's platform gap problem.
Photograph of Natalie Smead and her father during their trip to NYC
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It would be nice if when you fall in the gap someone inside the train pulled the emergency stop cord.
First, let me say, I feel bad that this person was killed by they train.
That being said, isn't it common sense to watch where you step near a train platform? Should we stencil in "Watch out for the big hole" every ten feet around the Grand Canyon?
I think people have to take a certain amount of responsibility for where they move their own bodies. I think I've stopped about five people from walking out into traffic because they weren't paying attention or just were not looking in front of themselves.
One of the things I learned when I was a little kid was to mind the gap, to always be aware of your surroundings when entering or exiting the train and always be careful on the platform.
What must be the biggest gaps anywhere on the LIRR are found by the last few (eaternmost) cars on Track 1 at the Flatbush Avenue terminal. I would estimate that some are as much as 18 inches.
Let's be clear here. Smead died because she crawled under the platform and tried to climb the far side, on a live track. She was not injured when she fell and her friends and railroad officials were telling her to stay put, because she was able to wait underneath the platform in safety until they could pull the train out and help her onto the platform safely. For whatever reason, she didn't obey. I'm not sure how that's worth five million.
I commute on the LIRR daily. Accidents happen because people are not paying attention. That's not the railroad's fault. If you can't figure out how to get off a train safely, tell the conductor and they will help you get off. Why is that such a damn difficult concept?
Perhaps Natalie Smead didn't grow up and live in an area that had any trains, wasn't used to them, and didn't know about live tracks. A lot of the commenters above assume dealing with trains is really obvious to everybody. Not if you're not from an urban area.
The sad thing here is that this could have been avoided years ago . Then again this is the MTA were talking about, Where things that should be done aren't done until something happens and there on the hook for damages and need to "make things right" . Although the arguement that people should watch were the hell there walking does factor into the decision process here .
This goes to #5: Have you ever experienced that situation before ? I could image what was going through her mind down under the platform . Just because someone tells you not to do something that most likely would save your life does mean you'll listen . She was probably thinking to herself that she needed to get out of their and back to the platform now . The mind tells you to do what it preceives to be the right course of action to take . What are you telling me you've never gotten yourself into a situation towards where you felt the need to free yourself of those confines ? It didn't matter what those people were saying to her, She needed to get to the platform and to safety .
Not Amused - I'm with you. Wow, all of you have nerves made of steel. I'm very impressed that you'd be able to remain reasonable after falling through a frigging hole underneath a train. I don't know - perhaps she panicked? I don't think that's unreasonable under the circumstances. I'm sure everybody's response will be that such an accident couldn't happen to somebody as streetwise and resourceful as they are. Sure. Accidents only happen to stupid people.
The LIRR has chosen to take the risk that this would happen...and it has. Companies do this kind of thing all the time. To them, it was worth it to leave the gaps and risk somebody falling in and, yes, getting killed. It's called cost-benefit analysis and it happens every day. Now, it's time for them to pay up.
Obviously, Americans are not fat enough.
do you think $5 million is enough to bring natalie back?