In wake of deadly accident, MTA makes safety fixes to help blind riders

The death of a visually-impaired man who fell from a Blue Line light rail platform near Carson and was run over by the train on Wednesday has spurred transit officials to order immediate safety improvements.

Cameron Cuthbertson, 48, of Compton, was trying to board a southbound train at the Del Amo Station when he apparently walked off the platform toward what he believed was a train door but was actually a gap between train cars, and he fell to the tracks. Passengers were not able to notify the train’s operator in time to stop it from leaving the station, according to Marc Littman, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

As a result of the accident, Littman said that agency Chief Executive Roger Snoble on Wednesday immediately ordered that devices be installed on all light rail platforms to stop people from walking between cars. The MTA, officials said, has been testing the devices (at right) in recent months, and they are already in place at four Gold Line stations, including Union Station, Lincoln/Cypress, Del Mar and Lake.

Littman said that he could not recall another such accident involving MTA trains. He added that the new barriers would ultimately need to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates rail operations in the state. Another MTA official said that in the wake of the death, the agency could go ahead and put in more of the barriers.

Subway trains operated by the MTA already have two sets of chains to guard openings between train cars. But the agency is also considering adding the barriers to subway stops because it remains possible that the chains would not prevent a person from falling onto the tracks.

David Puglisi, the manager for rail startups for the MTA, said that the agency began looking into the barriers last year after purchasing new rail cars that had gaps between the cars. Puglisi said that the Federal Transit Administration -– which helped fund the purchase -- raised concerns about the cars as part of its safety certification process.

Puglisi said he was unaware of any similar accidents involving blind or visually-impaired riders, but that other riders -- including some who had been drinking -- had occasionally fallen between the cars over the years.

Kent Zelas, who works in the readers representative’s office at The Times, was on a northbound train leaving the Del Amo Station on Wednesday and saw Cuthbertson fall onto the tracks.

“What I saw him do is put his cane in that empty space and he thought it was a doorway and he walked into it,” Zelas said. “What he didn’t do was tap the bottom of that space to make sure there was a floor to walk into. He just assumed it was a door.”

Zelas said that as his train left the station going north, he immediately hit the call button to tell the operator of his train what happened. He said that he wasn’t sure if there were other people on the platform who could have stopped Cuthbertson's fall.

Stephanie Chan was on her way to work in Long Beach on the train that hit Cuthbertson. Sitting in the rear car, Chan said that she saw Cuthbertson approach the doors but then veer in a different direction.

“I thought that was kind of weird and assumed he was going to the next door, and I heard a really loud crash and I heard him cry out,” Chan said.

Chan said that she believed he was either on the train car in front of her or still on the platform. Then the doors closed. “I heard him yell out 'Stop!' and that made me concerned -– I thought he was trying to get inside the door,” she said. “I stood up and didn’t see him on the platform. Everyone on the car was freaked out.”

Another passenger, she said, looked out the rear window of the train and saw Cuthbertson’s body on the tracks. At that point, Chan contacted the train’s operator through the intercom, and she halted the train down the tracks. Chan and another passenger went to the front of the car to talk to the engineer -– passing transit police on the train who were collecting tickets.

“She” – the engineer – “looked shocked and didn’t know” what had happened, Chan said.

MTA spokesperson Rick Jager declined to say whether transit police were on the train, citing an ongoing investigation of the accident.

The Times was unable to locate family or other contacts for Cuthbertson on Friday.

--Steve Hymon

Comments

[writer]

Too bad someone had to get killed to make this happen. The Bus Bench brought up the issues in regards to the disabled people and specifically issues of the visually impaired several times over a year ago. Here's some info

http://www.thebusbench.com/2009/01/so-this-blind-man-walks-between-two-cars-and-no-one-sees-him-.html

[writer]

"Littman said that he could not recall another such accident involving MTA trains."

True, because many visually impaired people have told me that they don't feel safe on the train. That's why even though the Braille Institute is right next to a Red Line station, the vast majority of the people who go there take the bus. It's safer. Unfortunately the farther south you go the worse the busses run, so unfortunately this gentleman tried his luck, assuming that it was safe, anyone who has worked with visually impaired people would be able to see that the trains are REALLY hard to navigate if you can't see. Even getting down to the platform. The steep stairs. The amount of stairs, the elevators sometimes being out, the escalators being out. Maybe Metro should consider people who are differently abled since this is a big part of their demographic.

Browne Molyneux

[Edward]

Its sad that no one offered help to this blind person to big in with. We all hold a responsibility for his death!

[P H D]

This country does not pay much attention to its blind citizens. I'm not blind, but I have several blind friends. They tell me that most European countries are much better at trying to protect/enable their blind citizens -- and without spending very much money. They provide audible signals connected to traffic lights to alert blind pedestrians when the lights change. They mandate AND ENFORCE accessibility aids on their official web sites. They provide paper currencies in different sizes, so that blind people can what change they are receiving by the size of the bill -- so they don't have to TRUST that a merchant is not ripping them off.

Most of these 'conveniences' are not expensive to implement -- especially when they are provided for when a new system is planned -- a second-rate retrofit is much more costly. (Have you ever closed your eyes and tried to get something out of a soft drink machine or a candy bar dispenser? Even if you've used the machine a lot, the guy who refills the machine seem to change the location of your favorite just about every week.)

Any way, the MTA should have BUILT the entire system with blind people in mind. For many of them, IT'S THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN GET AROUND.

[Justin W.]

This obviously tragic, but you can't completely blame Metro for negligence and not thinking of the blind, etc. As the article points out, Metro had already been installing both platform "between-car barriers" (BCB's) and vehicle BCB's to resolve this exact problem.

[writer]

"As the article points out, Metro had already been installing both platform "between-car barriers" (BCB's) and vehicle BCB's to resolve this exact problem." Justin

Eighteen years the Blue Line has been around. Eighteen years and the line which I bet carries the most disabled and elderly of passengers gets BCB's last.

And while the Gold Line and the Red Line have gotten screens for the time of departure, special late night service during the holidays, safety barriers, the oldest line. What's the reason for that? It's obviously not about the amount of passengers the Gold Line has the least, so what is it about the Blue Line that makes it last in regards to any enhancements?

If I guy hadn't been killed I bet nothing would have happened and nothing would have been planned.

Browne

[alex]

Justin --

The mental gymnastics people go through to rationalize another injury caused by MTA incompetance is staggering. Basic measures like chains to prevent people from falling between the cars have been standard operating procedure for decades. Why don't you rail nuts just come out and say what you're really thinking? It must of been the blind guy's fault, just like all the other accidents are the driver's, the kid's, the pedestrian's, or the rider's fault -- not the MTA.

[VJ Hamilton]

Cameron was my neighbor and lived in his neighborhood for all of his 48 years. He had suffered a stroke and various other troubles, including the murder of one of his brothers, through the years. He was well known in the community and will be missed.

I do not understand why no one stopped him from stepping off the platform. He had a cane that indicated he was visually impaired; surely someone noticed his movements.

It truly is a shame that he had to die before the safety of the disabled, children, or able-bodied people prone to missteps and mistakes could gain consideration.

[Damien Goodmon of Fix Expo]

alex -

My sentiments exactly.

The Blue Line has been operating for 18 1/2 years now. Metro has spent over 6 billion dollars on new rail lines and busways since it began operation and they STILL haven't done all they can to fix many of the problems.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows this is an agency that doesn't give a darn about public safety.

[bvb]

We all need to watch/listen out for each other as fellow human beings regardless of physical/mental ability. How simple it would have been to ask this visually impaired gentleman if he needed some assistance. I am also very surprised the lightrail operator and the ticket enforcement/police on-board didn't make sure that he was on okay, as they do in many other much larger transit systems where trains with raised platforms are commonplace like San Francisco and New York. Heck the operators even check in Sacramento, CA where the platforms aren't even raised.

[Brent Van Eps]

It is unbelievable that this has happened. MTA says the red tape involved keeps them from installing the barriers in a timely manner, yet when an accident happens what happens to all that red tape. I feel so much for this family. Those barriers should have been installed 12 years ago.