How to save yourself if you fall on the tracks in the subway
I won’t pretend to be an expert on how to save yourself if you get pushed on to the subway tracks at a station by some madman who takes a dislike to you for wearing green. The most I can say is that I’ve ridden the New York City subway a couple of times. Nonetheless, my interest was aroused when I saw a story about someone who was killed, and the story stated that the last death had been three years earlier (despite the massive size of the subway system). Clearly, the system operates fairly well.
In Singapore and some other major Asian cities, there is a glass wall on the platform that is closed until the train stops, preventing anyone or anything from intruding into the train’s space. This is more to prevent suicides than accidental or homicidal incidents. Suicides are much more common in Asia.
A few days ago in New York, a man was pushed onto the tracks by another man who was aggressively insane. Before the incident, the man who pushed him was noted talking to himself, then arguing with bystanders. After the man was pushed on the tracks, about 15 seconds later, the train arrived in the station and killed him. There was a photographer in the station who took many flash photos to alert the driver, despite being threatened by the man who threw the victim on the tracks. Unfortunately, the driver could not stop in time. The victim’s last name was Han, and he was 48. Here are a few interesting comments from eyewitnesses to other incidents.
TTTTrina
East Hampton, NY
People do step up when they can.
Years ago, at the Jamaica LIRR station, I got shoved by the exiting pack of commuters so that I fell between the train and the platform, jammed up to my waist. Knowing the train constantly shifted back and forth, I was terrified, and frantic to climb out. Some gentleman, without hesitation, leaned down, and pulled me up from under my armpits, dumped me on my bottom, on the platform away from the train door, and continued on his way without even the briefest hesitation. Yes, I had a ripped skirt and bloody knees, but I was otherwise in tact and forever grateful to the stranger who never even heard my “Thank you thank you thank you.” Everyone else, like rats leaving a sinking ship, just continued to push their way OVER and AROUND me, as if I were a pile of garbage. Not even a railroad employee came to ask how I was…I eventually got up, went to work, had to quickly buy a new dress and pantihose and clean up my wounds, but never forgot the experience.
The same thing happened to a businessMAN, and a big fuss was made over him, his torn suit, and making sure the DOORS to the front cars on the LIRR trains stopping at Jamaica did NOT open on the curve, where these incidents occurred. In that case, he made enough of an uproar that railroad employees came to the rescue, the train was delayed, and the press got wind of it.
The bottom line, is people will take a risk when they can, and others will look the other way.
R.K.
Toronto, Canada
Years ago I saw a woman jump in front of an incoming subway train. She fell between the rails. I saw a look of terror on the driver’s face that I can still recall. The woman left her purse and a note behind – clearly a suicide attempt. Someone pulled an emergency power switch. Firefighters showed up and talked to the woman under the train and were able to pull her out alive and well. I hope she reconsidered her decision. There are many suicide attempts in subways and they are not publicized in order to avoid copycats. According to that theory, the current publicity could have further terrible consequences. The incident confirmed to me that laying between the rails is the best among bad choices.
John L
Manhattan, NY
If someone is on the tracks and needs to be rescued, here’s how you do it. If you’re able bodied, immediately find another able bodied person. Each of you, side by side, kneel at the platform’s edge and each extend a hand toward the victim. Command the victim to reach toward you with both arms. Each rescuer should grip the victim right at his/her wrist and tell the victim to grip each of you similarly. Then each of the rescuers can pull the victim to safety. This can be done in seconds.
I used it once, with a fellow rescuer, decades ago, to rescue a man who had fallen into the water between a wharf and a docking ferry that was about to crush him to death. As his feet cleared the danger zone the ferry crunched in the wharf. He would have been dead in an instant. It took us less than five seconds to effect his rescue.
Robin
Bay Area
Gawker has a good article:
http://gawker.com/5965694/what-to-do-if-you-fall-onto-the-subway-tracks-…
From an ex-subway conductor (in the gawker article):
The best thing you can do is run as far down the platform as you can (in the opposite direction from where the train enters the station) and wave your arms frantically to get the train operator and passenger’s attention. Believe me, the passengers WILL be doing the exact same thing, as nobody wants to see you get run over and their train get delayed. If you can get to the far end of the platform, it gives the train more room to stop, and there is a ladder at the end of each platform where you can climb back up — do NOT try to climb up from where you are. So many people have been killed trying to jump back up rather than getting away from the entrance end of the station.
Do NOT trust the pits between the tracks —- they are often right next to the third rail which can be just as dangerous (and note that the wooden planks are not designed to hold a human’s weight – they are there to protect the energized rail from drips and weather) and the train operator is less likely to see you if you’re in there. And don’t duck under the train, because most stations do not have enough clearance for the average human. And do NOT jump down onto the tracks to try to save someone else. The best thing you can do is run on the platform towards the tunnel where the train enters so you can get the operator’s attention sooner. Waving your arms over the tracks will tell the operator to stop immediately.
Then there is the balls-out, pedal to the metal approach advocated by Danny Adelante:
I’m a foreigner, and relatively new to NYC. So last March, on my way home from a party at about 3:00am (it was St. Patrick’s Day), I was getting into the N/R station at 8th Street/NYU, and I realized I had gotten into the Downtown/Brooklyn station instead of the Uptown/Queens. Having already swiped my card, I didn’t want to go back outside and wait 15 minutes, or walk to another station……… so I jumped down onto the tracks and walked over to the Uptown side. Everyone was staring at me, but I was pretty drunk, so I didn’t care. I was able to pull myself back up onto the tracks, but it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.
Also, I had never heard of the third rail. I wasn’t avoiding it (because I didn’t know it was a thing), and somehow I managed not to step on it.
wahine18 is a confirming witness:
I’ve seen people do that more than once. Always thought they were crazy.
and this from VeryShinyLikeAHoliday:
I saw someone climb onto the tracks to get his phone. I thought “Oh, that sucks, he has to get a new phone” because it seriously would not have occurred to me to climb down for something like that. And then he climbed down and I was thinking “!” Nothing happened to him; he climbed back up without incident, but I still think that was incredibly stupid.
So there is a finite probability of surviving after this sort of behavior.
In Singapore and some Asian cities, the Plexiglas wall which controls access to the train and the tracks gives you no choice but to live and board the train. If you want to commit suicide, you’re going to have to find another way.
Finally, from itradedfameforlove, here is a freer solution than the glass walls in Singapore:
In Vienna, they plan for this. (I love the German speaking world). At every station, there is a gap underneath the platform large enough for you to hide from an oncoming train. Everyone is aware of this. The NY subway system is badly in need of an upgrade.
These examples show you the nuggets of information you can get from mining comments on popular news stories. Frequently these nuggets are more productive than the original story.
Conrad Theodore Seitz 