Be Careful Boarding Trains That Are Moving!
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/us...n-us.html?_r=0

California woman tragically tried to board an Austrian train that was moving - her legs were run over and she lost both of them.

I myself on occasion have dashed and hopped on a moving train and realize how stupid this was - a little slip on something, etc and tragedies like this can happen.

And what happens in Austria or Europe stays in Europe - the gal tried to sue the Austrian Railways in U.S. courts under the reasoning that she bought a Eurailpass online from a Massachusetts travel agency and they did not warn her no did the info on the pass of such possibilities.

I feel really sorry for this lady but caveat emptor - do something silly and face the consequences (I do not begrudge her trying to sue the railways and the article does not go into why the railways could have been liable - perhaps because the doors should close before the train takes off as is the cituation in some countries and probably a good idea in light of such tragedies.

A new candidate for the Darwin Award!

I am not surprised at her trying to sue in the US - big bucks payouts there for stupidity it seems. I suspect Austria would say she was an idiot and throw out the case.

I am surprised she was able to attempt to board a moving train though.
Here the door are shut and can't be opened before the train moves out of the station. The conductor has a master switch to lock the doors before signalling to the driver to move out.

thus hetismij - the case for liability of the Austrian Railways if they left the doors open - allowing such things to happen. Not saying I support that but could be that Austrian Railways are liable in some way - but yes the foolish action should trump even that IMO.

I don't think she has a leg to stand on in Austrian courts (no pun intended).

Pal, you <b>totally</b> intended that "pun."

Pal, have you EVER been on ANY European train that "left the doors open" once it started to move? Do get real.

Oh yes Dukey - over and over and that could be the negligence aspect - yes it happens all the time - I have run and hopped on a departing train - because my traveling companions were on it. Stupid but it was not moving that fast and trains usually start out slow- I've seen people hanging out doors waving goodbye, etc.

You could not be more wrong IME. but usually they start moving very slow and usually there is a conductor on the platform with a whistle to tell the driver it's all clear but not having doors close is not unusual in my zillions and zillions of train trips.

You need to ride more trains and get real yourself!

Well, I for one have stepped off a moving train in Europe. Now this was many years ago in Italy, and things may have changed, but I was going from Fiumicino (the town, not the airport) to Rome on a commuter train back in the 70's. I could not see the station signs clearly from my seat, so rose at each station to go to the steps to check.

When I identified my station, I quickly turned to my seat to pick up some papers, went to the door and down the steps. One leg was in mid air, and I was fully committed, when I realized the train had started to move. By the time my foot hit the platform it was really zipping by and I proceeded to do a spectacular cartwheel down the platform. Luckily I did not hit one of the pillars, but cleverly slowed my progress by dissipating the energy of my motion by friction, at the cost of losing skin.

The lovely Italians on the platform came to my aid, picked me up, dusted me off and were solicitous in the extreme, chattering away the whole time about how insanely stupid Americans were. They should have sued me for bloodying their station.

That must have been some time ago, Pal. I haven't seen a train that took off with open doors, or with a platform open to the tracks in a long time.

Here in Italy, all trains have doors that must close before the train can move and the doors can't be opened until the train comes to a complete stop.

However, I read the court's opinion, and nowhere does it say the train was moving when she tried to board it. It mentions a defect in the platform. A Washington Post article says that she fell to the track through a gap in the platform; again no mention that the train was moving when she fell.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...ef3_story.html

Another web site, maintained by a firm of personal injury lawyers, says the doors closed on her as she was trying to board the train.

http://www.pineyrolaw.com/Legal-Blog...-Railroad.aspx

Anyway, remember to get to the station in plenty of time, and, if you can't, there's always another train!

I suggest not even standing in trains that are moving. I feel in Switzerland on the train just after arriving, and broke my rib. I had an awful time.

A Washington Post article says that she fell to the track through a gap in the platform; again no mention that the train was moving when she fell.>

So why did she get run over if the train was not moving - seems as if she fell before the train started folks would alert the conductor or driver about that. Umh - the court documents probably are the most accurate however.

Times article says she boarding it while moving and as this was about a court case I assume they got that from the court cases here. - anyway on long-distance modern trains yes doors tend to shut and there is a conductor on platform that whistles the driver it's OK to go but in other countries that is not always the case and the zillions of local trains may not be the case.

but apparently the problem here was a hole in the platform.

But anyway the salient point is get to your train early and board in a leisurely fashion.

You really do need to stand when the train is moving so you are ready to depart as soon as the doors open. BUT you should always hold onto something.

As for someone falling between the platform and the train, this happens several times year in the NY subway (usually a child or a minute woman who goes right to the edge and trips - or just a drunk who falls) and the same has happened on some LIRR commuter trains (the fault of the RR - sometimes a 15 inch gap between the two). On the subway usually the train stops and/or someone hauls the victim to safety (a lot of people stand way too close to the edge of the platform). The LIRR issue has been addressed in some but not all stations and is esp bad in snowy/icy weather.

So the answer is - be careful with any moving vehicles. (Sadly, when they travel some people tend to panic if they fear they will lose their group or family and will do almost anything to catch up.)

Feel badly for the woman, but it sounds like she was being foolish from the little info we have.

According to the L.A. Times, it was the Austrian railway company who claimed Carol Sachs tried to board a moving train. She alleged it was an unsafe boarding platform.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...201-story.html

"mind the gap"