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07/28/07
02:10:19 am, Categories: Metro I'm assuming that by now everybody has read about the man who died on the 16th of July at the Shanghai Stadium Station stuck in between the train and the safety doors. What follows is translated from a post written 10 days ago on Ditiezu.com titled "Today I saw the guy trapped and killed in the safety doors on Line 1, and I'd like to say a few words":
I happened to be on the scene of the incident that happened this afternoon.
At the time I had just gotten off the train and walked over to the escalator. As the warning beep was sounding for the doors to close on the train from which I had just disembarked, I saw the victim following the people in front of him onto the train. But when the safety doors closed at the same time as the train doors, the guy got stuck in between and could neither enter the train nor get back onto the platform. At that time the guy and the people in the area all started yelling, so a platform staff member came over and started wildly blowing his whistle, trying to tell the driver to not start the car and getting ready to open the safety door. But the driver didn't react to the whistling and started to pull the train out of the station.
I was too scared to look. Since I was already halfway up the escalator I didn't personally see the man die, but I could hear the onlookers screaming and a bumping noise. Later on, after the train had left, I thought about going back down but since I was scared I thought better of it and left the station to meet a friend.
Actually, it wasn't like you might imagine: the guy didn't try to jump onto the train until the warning beep had already started, and he was really just following the crowd onto the train. It's just that since it was pretty crowded so he didn't have time to push his way into the car, and that's why he got stuck. I think that the responsibility for this accident actually lies with the Metro Company, because even after the platform staff had discovered the man and started whistling the driver of the train didn't understand what what going on. I mean, even under normal conditions the staff will whistle to signal that everything is clear and the train can leave. So I think that that the company is responsible for not creating a standard signal between the platform staff and the drivers, and that if there was a standard signal that the staff could make that the driver would understand and not start the train, then in today's situation the accident would have been avoided. So I think what's missing is a signal between staff and drivers for use in emergency situations, that is to say a signal that would emphasize that it's NOT ok to start the train.
As for the passengers, the ones standing on the platform at the time, what we could have done is to communicate the situation to the driver, by yelling or screaming; the passengers inside of the car could pull the emergency handbrake (I don't know if this is OK, whether it would be illegal in this case), or pull/hold the doors of the train open and not let them close. It seems like it's impossible to hold the safety doors open, but if you stick something in between the train doors they will automatically open when they meet the obstructing object.
Those have been my thoughts on the matter. Lastly, I grieve for the life that was lost today, and hope that such a tragedy will not be repeated. It is our wish that blood and death will not grace our beloved metro system. So, everybody, please be careful the next time you take to the rail!
The Public Transportation weblog wishes for your safety and the safety of the metro as well.
3 comments
As for having someone within the train pull the emergency brake, sad to say, I won't bet on it, knowing the Chinese. Nobody will do such a thing and go out on a limb for his fellow human being. At least I've seen the button in use in an emergency in Singapore before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore
In 1987, the S$5 billion metro system, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), began operations. It was then the largest public project ever implemented in Singapore, and expectations were high. One of the champions of the project, Ong Teng Cheong, who later became the first democratically-elected President, declared," …the MRT will usher in a new phase in Singapore's development and bring about a better life for all of us."
It was then reported that vandals had begun sticking chewing gum on the door sensors of MRT trains, preventing the door from functioning properly and causing disruption of train services. Such incidents were rare but costly and culprits were difficult to apprehend. In January 1992, Goh Chok Tong, who had just taken over as Prime Minister, decided on a ban. The restriction on the distribution of chewing gum was enacted in Singapore Statute Chapter 57, the Control of Manufacture Act, which also governs the restriction of alcohol and tobacco.
And in fact, most of the suggestions besides the post I translated were about 1) changing the timing of the doors so that the train doors close first and there is a lag before the safety doors close, and 2) installing sensors like you mention. The sad thing about the safety brake (besides the fact the nobody pulled it) is that there was a highly publicized incident a few months ago where somebody pulled the brake as a joke and was not found, and the message that people got after the incident was that it is illegal to pull the brake and the person who pulls it will be fined heavily. So now even during emergencies people will be hesitant to use it.
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