Child Was Left Alone In Subway Motorwoman's Cab

A second witness has come forward to corroborate claims that a subway train operator on the No. 4 line allowed an 8 or 9-year-old boy into the motorwoman's cab and maybe even let him drive the train a little. And the witness, Nessa Hampton, 53, says that not only was the boy in the cab with the female operator, but he was left to hang out there by himself while the unidentified woman exited the train at Union Square. According to her report, the motorwoman was gone for several minutes as she chatted with a colleague operating a No. 6 train across the platform. Hampton tells the Daily News, "He was right next to the controls. Suppose he touched something and the train started moving. There was no way this woman could have ran back to the train and stopped it." But not to worry—the motorwoman has explained to MTA officials it was physically impossible for the boy to operate the train because it requires 20-pounds of pressure. (Or a cinder block to override the dead man's switch!) Still, as Hampton told her daughter at the time, "somebody's going to get in a lot of trouble for this." Both the motorwoman and the conductor—who is believed to be the boy's relative—are currently suspended without pay.

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By John Del Signore in News on July 30, 2009 12:14 PM

Comments [rss]

Qraymond

The "Training Day" pic is priceless.

Charley1

This is just like that Grateful Dead song, "The Monkey and the Engineer".

PKinNYC

and boy how did he ever figure out the safety mechanism.

PKinNYC

yeah you know it only takes 10-16 pounds of pressure to cock and fire a shotgun...I can't believe that young man was so strong to blow his head off... IDIOTS.

PTG in nyc

Personally I don't care as long as nothing bad happens, which is the case in this instance. Yes, the concept is wreckless and unnecessarily stupid, but so is driving while on a cell phone, which 50% of drivers seem to do no matter what.

The kid probably had the coolest experience of his childhood and I can only wish it was me who got to have that fun behind the wheel

Spirit of 76

He's baaaack! The overgrown kid who has no regard for the safety and well-being of others.

Nothing happened. This time. It could just as easily have been a disaster had an emergency happened. Maybe we shouldn't bust all those drunk drivers because most of them haven't run over anybody yet. Just because a lot of people phone or text while driving, that makes it harmless?