Letter: Prevent deaths to subway trains
Commuters watch as a train enters the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Queens, where a man was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks. (Dec. 28, 2012) Credit: AP
The two recent fatal subway pushings have shown the need for additional safety measures ["Fatal subway push," News, Dec. 30]. I'm sure the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's safety and engineering staff is looking into a fix.
I would like to suggest a possible solution that doesn't involve barriers at the platforms. My idea is a device attached to the front of the motorman's cab, near the level of and in front of the front wheels. This device would essentially push and scoop a victim along until the motorman could stop the train.
The material, shape and attachment of the device can be engineered.
Think of the cattle catchers on locomotives in the Old West, or a snow plow attached to a pickup truck.
John Grosso, Queens
Editor's note: The writer is a retired civil engineer.
