Safety upgrade or natural selection?

An Upper East Side woman died tragically yesterday after jumping onto subway tracks in an attempt to retrieve a dropped bag. Much of the startled crowd urged her to lay flat on the tracks as the train approached, but she insisted on trying to climb back out. Although the conductor of the train engaged his emergency brake, there was not enough time to prevent the collision. The woman became wedged between the side of the train and the track itself.


Although any New Yorker who uses the subway has seen advertisements urging riders to notify an MTA employee when items fall on the tracks, is the message missing its mark? In a time where the entire City is encouraging healthy living, are we forgetting basic safety precautions? Or, alternatively, is this incident an outlier as accidents go? A Columbia University study revealed that between 1990 and 2003, 315 people had died accidently in the subway system. While 46 per cent of these deaths were associated with inebriation, there were still 54 per cent of people perfectly sober. Discounting heart attacks and other natural causes, it is interesting to ponder how many people just did not get out of the way in time.

Should the MTA, or City administration, consider installation of safety devices on subway tracks? Walking along some of the narrower platforms in the City is certainly a harrowing task for the bravest person, especially during rush hour. Having safety doors, like those in the London Metro, would eliminate both fear and unnecessary death. While I am a full proponent of natural selection, I’m not sure Darwin envisioned this at the front end of a subway train.