Board: Drinking Contributed To Teenager’s Train Death
A teenager who died after falling through the gap between a commuter train and a station platform had been drinking and pulled away from people who tried to help her, a state panel concluded.A lawyer for the teen’s family called the report a “cover up.”
Natalie Smead died Aug. 5 while taking a Long Island Rail Road train with a group of friends into New York City. She fell through the gap while getting off a westbound train at Woodside Station and was trying to climb up on the other side of the platform when she was struck by an eastbound train.
The state Public Transportation Safety Board’s report released Monday said that the Long Island Rail Road was in compliance with government safety standards and that Smead, 18, had a blood alcohol level of 0.23, a level associated with severe impairment.
It said her group had been drinking before and during their trip from Merrick, on Long Island. After she fell into the gap, Smead was told to stay put and someone took her hand, but she pulled away and crawled under the platform to another track, into the path of the other train, according to the report.
“This was certainly a tragic and terrible accident and our heartfelt condolences go out to Ms. Smead’s family, but there’s also a level of personal responsibility when you ride public transportation,” said state Transportation Commissioner Thomas Madison,
A lawyer for the teen’s family, Robert Sullivan, called the report a “cover up” rife with omissions to protect the Long Island Rail Road. The family has filed a notice of intent to sue. Smead was from Northfield, Minn.
Railroad officials said it is the only known fatality attributed to someone falling through the gap, although nearly 130 commuters have been injured by slipping through gaps since 2004.