BOSTON — A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority conductor is suing the operator of MBTA commuter trains, saying a defective door caused the partial amputation of one finger.
The Quincy (Mass.) Patriot Ledger reports the suit by Quincy resident Allen Chin is one of eight against contract commuter operator Keolis over the last six years over injuries blamed on commuter-train doors.
Chin is seeking $220,000, including $60,000 in medical expenses and $160,000 in current and future lost wages. His suit says the injury occurred Dec. 4, 2019, because of a defective door during a stop at the MBTA’s Framingham station, and led to partial amputation of his ring finger.
Chin’s lawyer and a Keolis spokeswoman both declined comment.
The Patriot Ledger’s review of court records found that another conductor and two Keolis employees have previously filed suit over injuries caused by train doors, with all three settling out of court. A suit by a passenger, a Florida woman who said she was dragged by the train after her hand was caught in a door, was settled in 2018. Three other suits — two by passengers and one by a conductor — are still making their way through the courts.
Workers’ Comp?
On an original PCC car, “Sensitive Edges” are wires inside the door edges connected with a switch. When the door closes on someone, the wire goes taut, closes the switch and the door reopens.
Too simple for modern consultants.
I could bore you with a couple of examples of unsafe commuter trains but I won’t … I’ll just say that on some commuter services safety is a function of regular, repeat riders who know the drill. Less safe for those who don’t know the drill.
Equipment must be idiot proof. That’s why they put sensitive edges on doors. They need to be maintained.
NO CLOSE, NO GO. Yes, idiots will delay trains. But the law protects humans over inanimate machines.
Sounds more like people are lollygagging either on the way out off or on the way onto the trains…those doors wait for no one.