Christopher Leo

Good blog Professor Leo. You can call us persons with disabilities instead of handicapped. Hope this article is not too long, but it demonstrates what happens when we are forgotten in the beginning of a project, - not to mention detail about still getting it done when we are there.

This is an eye-witness account of an accident which took place in Los Angeles this week. A blind man fell in between two subway cars and was run over as the train's driver had no idea he had fallen. It is followed by comments from Chris Gray of the American Council of the Blind. In Vancouver undefined edges around the Sky Train platform caused a very severe accident and a death I think before they actually listened to us. My friend John Rae went off a Toronto subway platform and only broke his leg thankfully. You will also note the difficulty dealing with a arms length transportation authority. Cities need to be in direct control. No one should have to die before safety is dealt with on our Winnipeg rapid transit corridor. No wonder I am thought of as an angry man. You will be too after reading this story:

An accident occurred at the los angeles metro today. A blind man was runover by my train and it could have been prevented if the train was properly accessible to the blind. I am writing to you because someone needs to DO SOMETHING about this, and represent the visually impaired.

I am hoping to call out the wreckless design of the train so that these deaths will stop.

This is my story. This morning (1/28/09) around 9AM I was headed south to Long Beach on the blue line. We stop at the Del Amo station and I see a tall lanky black man with a cane outside of my car. His eyes are open wide but unseeing, and he taps against the train with his cane to feel for the entrance. I am seated at the front of the last car. He is clearly blind and approaches our doors but misses the frame and moves on to the right, out of my field of vision. I hear a loud crash and thud and a yell, and think he has fallen into the next car entryway, basically figuring he is either being theatrical or someone in that car will take care of it. This misconception is my fault. He has actually fallen in between the cars onto the tracks below. The train doors close and I hear him yell out "Stop". This pricks up my car and we all realize something is wrong. The train begins to move and he is screaming and crying and pounding against the train. I still am not clear on what is happening, I can't see him. Behind us we see his body lying next to the tracks. I press the emergency conductor button and tell her what I am piecing together- she had no clue. I gave my information to metro but no one has investigated this. I looked up the news and found out the man was killed. For this I blame the design of the cars. There is a gap, about 2/3 the size of the car doors, in between each car. There is no rope or chain or protective level to keep people from falling in between the cars. There are no cameras or any way to be seen by the patrons or the conductor once you have fallen, and no way to get out. He got stuck down there, was probably confused and terrified, and when he heard the doors close realized what was happening. This experience was traumatizing and fatal and could have been avoided. I have heard about other injuries from similar instances, and I'm sure people have died in the past. This is especially disturbing considering so many visually impaired people rely on the subway for transportation, and there are 4-5 huge death traps on every train which feel misleadingly like car doors.

I just don't want this to ever happen again. Something should be done. His family or an organization can stand up and fight metro, and make them add just say a rope, mirrors, SOMETHING. I can't believe it. This should be standard.

Links to news articles I found on what happened: http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11576279 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/train-death.html

Thank you for your time. I'm available for questioning if you ever need me. Sincerely, Stephanie chan

----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Gray"
To: "stephanie chan"
Subject: A blind man died today

Dear Stephanie:

First, thank you for taking the time to write down your story and lending your voice of concern and outrage to what happened on the Blue Line yesterday.

(Details of Chris's accident similar to the death but he lives has been removed for an important dialogue on frustration.)

This matter has been under litigation since 2003 and today remains unresolved. Though it is a Federal requirement that between-car barriers be used to avoid people falling into the gap between cars, this requirement has been largely ignored by both San Francisco and Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, no effort was even made to have the manufacturers install such barriers on the newest cars purchased for the light rail. At one time in L.A., some minimal attempts were made to install such barriers, but they have been largely abandoned. San Francisco has stubbornly resisted any attempt at a meaningful solution. It is about this that I am in litigation today.

Both San Francisco and Los Angeles assert that there is no way for them to install between-car barriers despite the Federal mandate to do so, and despite the fact that many other cities including Philadelphia and New York have done so long ago. Thus far, the California Public Utilities Commission has remained silent on the issue. Because of the existence of the CPUC, the San Francisco judge hearing our case has been unwilling to reach any decision so far though we are back in court this coming Monday for further arguments. What a coincidence, eh?

In San Francisco, our transit agency asserted that I was the only blind person who has ever fallen between cars on our rail system. My attorneys found two additional people since my fall. Who knows how many more near deaths occurred. One of the people who fell two years ago was only saved because a transit worker pulled him out of the gap just before the train departed. Mind you, this was a transit worker who was later given an award, but the transit agency claimed nobody else ever fell between the cars.

To a large extent, the blind community has been paralyzed with inaction on this issue. We cannot trust our transit agencies, are mired down in bureaucracy between those agencies, the CPUC, the courts and the Federal Department of Transportation. It's a terrible situation all around. At times, I have thought seriously of just walking away from the whole situation it is so frustrating.

Your note and what apparently occurred yesterday shows me once again that this is a fight that is necessary to continue. I could write 50 pages about the deceit and downright lies that have been perpetrated against the blind by our transit agencies regarding the between-car barriers issue. As a person who has been there but luckily survived, let me assure you that this fight will continue with redoubled efforts on my part.

Sincerely, Chris