Causes of Subway Accidents

People across New York depend on the subway system to get to and from their destinations safely. Unfortunately, serious injury or fatal accidents can and do occur, and happen more frequently than most people realize.

As recently as September 13, 2019, AM New York reported that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) was experiencing service interruptions after a person was fatally struck by a subway train in Manhattan just before 3 p.m. The MTA warned that the accident could cause delays on the A, B, C, D, E, F and M lines because southbound B and D trains had to run along the C line before transferring to the F line while the death was being investigated.

This past February, the New York Times reported that a train pulled a 39-year-old man into the tunnel just past the stop at Grand Central Station and left him unconscious when police arrived before being pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Authorities told the Times that, contrary to earlier reports, neither the man’s coat nor the strap of a bag had gotten caught in the doors of the train, and it remained unclear why or how the man came into contact with the train. One possibility suggested was that that man got caught on the lip below one of the train doors after stumbling into the gap between the platform and the train.

The Times also reported that the MTA said 189 people came into contact with a moving train in 2018, but “such accidents are rare in a system with more than five million riders a day.” However rare subway accidents might be in the bigger picture, any single subway accident has the potential to dramatically alter the life of a person involved and possibly the lives of the families of those individuals.

In general, some of the common causes of subway accidents include, but are not limited to:

• Low or no lighting on subway platforms and stations
• Subway train operator negligence
• Abrupt stops
• Poorly-maintained subway cars
• Subway car collisions
• Slip or trip and fall in subway stations
• Electric shocks
• Negligent security

Why Choose the New York Subway Attorneys of Finz & Finz, P.C.?

Finz & Finz, P.C., has a distinguished track record of success handling subway accident cases. Our firm obtained a $5 million settlement for a woman who had both of her legs severed in a subway accident.

The woman had fallen between two moving cars while attempting to move to a forward car. We were able to prove that the train company failed to warn passengers who might be changing cars and failed to have a reasonable safety device to prevent passengers from falling between trains onto the tracks.

Contact Us

If you suffered severe injuries or your loved one was killed in a subway accident in New York City, contact Finz & Finz, P.C., right away. To schedule a free consultation to discuss your case with one of our subway accident lawyers, call (855) TOP-FIRM or reach out to us online.