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Tag Archives: subway accident

January 01, 2018 News
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New York City subway accident injures worker

New York – Wednesday’s subway train collision occurred on the tracks that run between Queens and Manhattan. The train accident involved two trains that were apparently not carrying any passengers. Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers were aboard the subways at the time of the crash and at least one worker was injured as a result. One report shows that the trains involved in the collision were actually work trains, carrying workmen, supplies and tools. The workers were down there doing repair and construction work on the line according to union officials. However, it is still unknown what caused the work accident. That cause is under investigation by transportation safety officials but has many riders concerned. The heavy traffic and speeding trains in the system that was designed so long ago is a recipe for disaster according to some watch groups. They note that negligent maintenance and delayed repairs are all too common, placing the public at risk for injury and death. These problems, some say, are the root cause of the plethora of subway injuries and accidents in the city. Safety advocates are demanding further evaluation of the safety of the mass transit system, with an eye on specific known problem areas. These include lines with prior collisions, near misses and heavy traffic as well as dangerous curves. In addition, slip and fall hazards, platforms and stairs that have a history of trip and fall injury as well as areas of increased smoke and fumes build-up should be evaluated and corrected. You can see more about last week’s work train accident here.

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo Credit: Mark Mitchell [License]

September 03, 2014 News
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Construction accident injures worker in New York City subway tunnel

New York – Fire department rescue teams were sent racing to the scene of a construction accident in Manhattan according to reports. Witnesses say that an injured worker had to be extricated from an Upper East Side subway tunnel that was being built for the Second Avenue subway line. Officials explain that the worker suffered a leg injury when a heavy piece of equipment fell on him after breaking loose. He was unable to move on his own due to the seriousness of the accident injuries and a crane was used to lower firefighters down to help. Rescue teams began treating his wounds while he was lifted out of the construction site and transported to an emergency trauma room of a nearby hospital. The cause of the construction injury is still unclear and investigators were looking into why the object fell on the worker. Work safety activists say that it is important for employers to provide proper training and safety gear to their employees. It is also necessary to secure machines and equipment properly in order to avoid work accidents. Investigators will need to determine if all applicable laws and regulations regarding safe work site practices were being observed at the time of the accident. To find out more about this subway accident and work injury, check out this article.

Illustrative photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York (“Weekend Work 2012-08-13 01″Uploaded by tm) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

May 07, 2014 News
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Queens subway accident injures at least 19 passengers

New York – A train accident occurred on Friday, as the F train made its way toward Manhattan and then Brooklyn. The train derailed in Queens, NY when investigators say that a rail broke. Several subway cars collided into each other and slammed into the walls, injuring at least 19 victims and trapping approximately 1,000 passengers in the tunnels. Reports have indicated that the broken train rail may have just been installed as recently as March. It was apparently put in to replace an older rail that had a crack in it. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) engineering and safety experts are trying to determine how many other subway rails have been replaced from the same batch as this one. Transportation safety activists have expressed concern regarding the subway system’s safety record keeping and organization, worrying if negligence maintenance may have played a role in this train crash. Some have contended that several dangers and hazardous conditions have been ignored in the past by engineers and the administration.

Experts say that the broken rail that caused the collision needs to be examined by unbiased engineers in order to determine the cause. They say that defective design, inferior manufacturing materials or techniques or even faulty installation of the tracks could have led to the accident. Meanwhile, time is of the essence since there are possibly many more of these train tracks from the same batch that have been installed throughout the MTA system. To prevent further injuries or deaths, advocates have demanded that the administration urgently investigate the matter and stop using the potentially faulty rails pending a full analysis. Read more about the subway crash and current inquiry here.

Illustrative photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York (NYCT_3396Uploaded by tm) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

October 21, 2013 News
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Increase in New York City train accidents, injuries and deaths

New York – A recent report by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) notes a significant increase in subway and train deaths. Citizens and commuters in the city’s busy transit system have been hit and killed on the train tracks 65 times as of the end of the summer. The number of accidents and deaths has continued to rise since then according to reports. Transportation safety groups fear that this may be an increase that won’t stop unless something is done to prevent further accidents, injuries and deaths. They demand that more be done in way of safety barriers, accident prevention training and proper maintenance. The administration responsible for the safety and health of the people using the subways as well as the workers has looked into possible methods of preventing accidents and even suicides by people getting hit by a train. Unfortunately, according to some sources, the MTA administration has refused to install more safety barriers, fences and railings due to cost. Public advocates have countered that the safety of the public must be the primary concern and the administration must worker harder to find the necessary money. They warn that this type of accident prevention is just as important as the need for continued fixing of broken or faulty equipment. Negligent maintenance is something that also needs to be addressed in order to prevent some of the accidents in the subways, on the tracks and on the train platforms. Experts explain that broken steps, cracked sidewalks or hallways as well as damaged handrails must be fixed without delay. Unfortunately, sometimes these simple hazards are not fixed quickly or properly. Some of these dangerous conditions are just left with a line of yellow construction tape around them, poorly warning bystanders about the true dangers. The fast pace of the public transit system leaves citizens dodging these safety hazards on a constant basis. This can easily lead to a trip and fall accident that leaves the victim injured and confused as to what even occurred.

This past Wednesday saw another pedestrian struck and killed by a train, this time on Long Island. This train accident is still under investigation in order to determine why the pedestrian was hit. Another accident occurred on the tracks in Brooklyn, when a blind man fell off the platform. Luckily a maintenance worker helped save the victim by pulling him back up. Find out more about that near subway accident here.

Photo by Adam J. Sporka at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons