Metro Trains: Be Careful In There

For anyone who lives in a big city, the question of transportation is probably answered by the presence of the always efficient, if not always spacious, metro, subway, or light rail system. These mass transit systems boast the convenience of avoiding traffic and stop lights while offering cheap fares compared to the price of keeping a car in an urban area. Once they’ve pulled away from the platform, they stop for no one.

This kind of efficiency is coveted by city residents who run tight ships on even tighter schedules. Who needs a brake pedal when you can skip past all the traffic by going underground? It’s a nice idea, in theory. There’s no reason to worry about stopping on a dime without intersections and pedestrians to complicate the ride. However, in practice, things aren’t always so simple.

This week, a maintenance worker was hit by a metro train in Washington, D.C. as it pulled into a station. While the metro system has implemented new safety regulations since the June collision of its Red Line trains, metro cars do not reduce their speeds to come to a stop until after they reach the platform. This means that trains traveling near their top speeds routinely run past platforms crowded with clients.

Despite the fact that the metro cars have conductors, train operators have a very limited ability to make emergency stops. Trains are controlled by an operation system that keeps them going according to a set schedule. Unfortunately, some systems do not have features for safety that help prevent accidents. Even those that do have this feature, like the New York Subway, only have safety features that prevent collisions with other cars. There is little chance of stopping a train if someone falls onto the rails or if a worker gets stuck. In a crowded metro or subway station, this kind of situation is entirely possible.

If you or someone you love are involved in an accident like this, whether you are a commuter or an employee, you may have grounds to pursue a lawsuit depending on the circumstances of your accident. If this is the case, the road to recovery and to compensation is probably going to be a long one. You should seek the services of a firm that can help you not only legally, and our legal referral service can help find you one, but also financially. You can also fine an excellent lawyer by browsing through the "Law Firms" section of the InjuryBoard webiste.

As your case moves along through the lengthy litigation process, lawsuit funding will assist you by covering accident-related expenses until you get your settlement. Lawsuit Financial wishes the metro worker who was hit a speedy recovery and urges all who use public transportation to exercise extreme caution and ride safely.