New York Subway Sees Rash Of Injuries

In recent years, more and more younger people have moved into urban areas like Baltimore and Philadelphia. Once there, they have shown a tendency to rely heavily on public transportation, like buses and subways, and other ride-sharing platforms like Uber and Lyft, rather than own their own vehicles. Unfortunately, no transportation system is completely safe, and a recent rash of injuries in the subways of New York City brings this into a harsh reality.

Two People Hurt Mere Blocks Apart

June 16, 2016 was an eventful day in the New York subway system, with two people getting seriously hurt when they fell off the platform mere blocks away from each other, within a span of 50 minutes.

The first was a young woman, standing close to the edge of the platform at 14th Street and 7th Avenue, waiting for her train. As the train pulled in, however, she fell onto the tracks and the train hit her, severing both of her legs. She was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. The cause of her fall from the platform is still under investigation.

The second incident happened a block away, at the platform of the stop at 14th Street and 8th Avenue. A 23-year-old man had gone down to the tracks for an unknown reason, and was trying to get back onto the platform as the train pulled in. He did not make it up in time, and his right leg was trapped between the train and the platform. He was also rushed to the hospital for his injuries, though they were not considered life-threatening.

Police do not suspect criminal activity to be a part of either case.

Accident Statistics in the New York Subways

According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the organization responsible for running the public transportation services in New York City and the surrounding areas, an average of 134 people were hit by subway trains between 2001 and 2012. Out of those, an average of 41 died in the accident. Some of these injuries, however, were done on purpose: About 35% of these injuries have been classified as suicides.

While the number might seem high, it is actually astronomically small when compared to the total ridership of the subways in New York City – in 2015, a typical weekday saw 5.6 million riders.

Lessons to Learn for Riding the Baltimore and Philadelphia Tracks

The Baltimore Metro and the SEPTA in Philadelphia are a far cry from the heavily-used subways in New York, but that does not mean that we cannot learn from the accidents that happen in the Big Apple. Chief among these lessons is that there is absolutely no reason to venture onto the tracks, even if there is no train in sight. Getting back onto the platform is an often underappreciated task, and it can mean the difference between life and death.

Personal Injury Attorneys at Gilman & Bedigian

Nevertheless, despite all of our knowledge and preparation, accidents do happen. If you are the victim of one, and you get hurt by a train in either Baltimore or Philadelphia, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Gilman & Bedigian online or at (866) 849-9899.