Natural consequences should be enough to make people think twice about passing between cars when a train is in motion. What's the point in criminalizing it? None. Criminalization was a stupid thing done by politicians who had nothing better to do. So... whomever's in charge of making those rules... decriminalize it. Locking or unlocking the doors is another matter entirely.

Reason why doors are locked : New York City is filled with idiots, the biggest idiots you will EVER meet in any walk of life. I don't care how much damn money you have or how good your grades are, you're a complete idiot if you can't handle the task of living without causing inconvenience to everyone else.

Too many people in this god forsaken city lack the most common of senses. As much as I love this city, I hate the people in it.

Resolution : Leave the doors open, the idiots without common sense will die and the people who deserve to live will be smart about their inter-car movements. The numb nuts have a horrible tendency to hold back the flow of this city as it is, we don't need them.

taken from the post article:

The problem came to light this summer when a constituent told James that she and her kids were "trapped in a subway car filled with children when a fight broke out."

ah... so bad things need to happen around/to politicians before things start changing. really good to know -- thanks, post!

Back in the day, I had some great times in between cars of the D train going over the Manhattan Bridge.

I am not particularly invested in moving between cars on a regular basis, however locking the doors can be dangerous as well. I was once trapped in the last car of a Q while the train was stuck halfway into a station after a jumper landed on the tracks. The conductor announced that the train was being evacuated without specifying why, except he forgot that our door was locked. We were left in the train for an hour after watching every other car clear out. No one came to check on us, no announcements were made, no one even remembered we were there. People started to panic, thinking of terrorist attacks and god knows what else. Finally two burly men smashed through the windows on the doors between the two cars and lifted people through them. We basically had to evacuate ourselves. When we got to the front of the train and out onto the platform, the cops acted surprised to see us. They had shut down and evacuated the station. The platform was covered with blood and IV fluid and discarded medical equipment, as the paramedics had already come and gone. It was one of the most traumatic things I have ever been forced to see, and I have had lots of nasty experiences riding the subway. And in typical MTA fashion, no one apologized, no one was around to give directions, no one offered even a free transfer, leaving us stranded.

ok, as bad as that sounds, no one died... you were inconvenienced by an hour or so and traumatized a bit, but you're here to tell the tale. it's way more likely that someone would get killed or injured by going between cars than experiencing what you experienced.

Well, it seems that the MTA had NO IDEA that there were people in Michelle's subway car. So yeah, it is pretty traumatic. If they didn't break the window how long would they be there? Everyone would have left. They were "inconvenienced for an hour or so" because They LET THEMSELVES OUT. If not, they would still be there hours later.

Oh, absolutely. I wasn't arguing that everyone should be able to run around between cars while the trains are moving about. I am just relating the story as an example as why the current system could use some upgrades. Imagine there really was some disaster in the tunnels and people needed to evacuate quickly. Just relying on MTA employees to remember to unlock the doors could be disastrous. But I guess saying that something in the subway could "use some upgrades" is pretty much stating the obvious, isn't it?

Oh, so we have to wait for another murderer in a car, we did decide it's the best idea to lock passengers in with a killer to prevent them from escaping right? Good idea.

if there's a murderer in a car, wouldn't it make more sense to keep him locked in that car, so that he can only kill the people in the car, rather than everyone in the whole train?

...too soon?

Oh, so we have to make decisions that based on one-in-a-million circumstances versus logically weighing risk and reward. Good idea.

given the great number of people who successfully managed the two measly steps between trains i would say that falling on the tracks is the "one-in-a-million circumstance".

But, the benefits are very small. Let's say your figure is correct and people walk between cars a million times a year. That seems plausible to me. One dies. (That's my estimate for how freq this happens.)

Did those million car walkers really benefit enough to justify one death? How many were just being restless new yorkers, doing it for mere emotional gratification?

Image a product (like soda pop) that had no utility but killed one in a million users. If you were in charge of a company would you sell that product?

wait what? get back to me when you've got some real figures, more logic, and less stream of consciousness. maybe stick to the PETA posts and cuddly-wuddly animals.

Dude, you had no figures either. You just blabbed out the one in a million thing. So back off.

"Oh, so we have to make decisions that based on one-in-a-million circumstances versus logically weighing risk and reward. Good idea."

yet there you are below arguing with the very person (virgilstarkwell) who injected the "figure" and who thinks we should lock passengers in trains with no hope for escape.

so, madam, what is your opinion? or are you just arguing for the hell of it? your commentary is usually much better than this.

Hey asshole, you brought up "the great number of people" who cross between cars.

I'm just suggesting that they are 92.4% impulsive morons who need to be protected from themselves anyway. And yes that's a REAL STAT.

Link:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soun...

There is a very simple solution: Doors lock going from inside car to out when the train is moving, but going from out of the car to inside they never lock. That way people can only try to pass between cars when the train is stopped, but never get stuck when the train starts moving.

That's assuming the doors have mechanisms capable of locking one way only, which I doubt they do. If you want to replace every door on every train, you can pay for it :P

so i guess this means that every other problem in her district has been solved? awesome!