November 24, 2006
Charge: MTA Doesn't Care About Underage Drinking
The lawyer representing of the family of the 18 year old girl who was killed when she fell through a Long Island Rail Road platform gap says the MTA "doesn't give a tinker's damn about drinking and intoxication on the railroad".
Earlier this week, the state's Public Transportation Safety Board issued a report saying that Natalie Smead was responsible for her death (versus saying the LIRR was responsible) because, in part, she was intoxicated and did not respond to people's attempts to help her. But the Smeads' lawyer Robert Sullivan says that the MTA hasn't been doing enough. From the Daily News:
An area resident said she saw hundreds of drunken teens streaming off trains and boozing with abandon at the hub.It's so weird that drinking is allowed on LIRR and Metro-North trains (whereas the subway's rules are more stringent), but we guess commutes can be long. The MTA police issues 37 summonses for underage drinking and open container violations this year."It was total chaos," Jean Grote said. "They were terribly, terribly intoxicated and had open bottles of alcohol all over the place."
Grote didn't see any police presence until after Smead was hit by the train, she said.
Drinking is permitted on LIRR and Metro-North trains, and passengers can buy alcohol at some stations. But passengers are not supposed to have open containers of alcohol that the railroad does not sell, including large bottles of hard liquor. Still, some get on trains with their own beer or other alcohol.
|
There basically are three reasons why drinking is permitted on commuter trains. One is the sheer weight of tradition, it's a practice that's been going on for decades. There's also the practical issue; if drinking were prohibited, you can be sure that many people would ignore the conductors and trains would be delayed as police were summoned. Finally, the third reason is what I consider to be the strongest one: a drunk riding on a train is infinitely preferable to one driving a car.
>An area resident said she saw hundreds of drunken teens streaming off trains and boozing with abandon at the hub.
Hold on, how old is this woman? I am betting that any young person is a "teen" to our good friend Area Resident.
Regardless, that sounds like a good time to me! :)
They're really reaching here, aren't they?
If I remember right, they were drinking long before they boarded the train at Mineola -- take a few steps off the platform and you can easily no longer be on MTA property, not to mention out of the sightlines of any MTA employees -- so what do you expect the MTA to do? Perhaps if that nosy old biddy had called the police when she saw them instead of bitching to the papers after the fact, circumstances might be different.
Once again, too little, too late. But of course, someone has to pay and I'm eagerly anticipating the MTA's passing the costs down to myself and my fellow commuters. Talk about a reason to drink.
I know that Metro-North has bar cars on the New Haven Line. I have been in them, but not when in use.
This whole issue reeks of favortism ! Yes I said it ! The real reasons they have lax rules regarding drinking on the commuter rails is : [1] It would be way to costly for the MTA to enforce the rules . So what do they do? They create a different set of rule for commuters ![2] You know the cops in the subways see anyone drinking from a "Concealed container" they hand you a ticket . What exactly is the MTA trying to say here ? [3] Commuters deserve to be held to a lower standard because they "Commute" to the city ? Bullshit! Maybe if there was a cop around patrolling the platforms that woman that was so damn drunk that she managed to lose her balance and fall onto the tracks, Would still be here today ! Just a thought people . Suburbanities who drink turn into raging assholes to you know ! There's no difference .
I hate when events like this threaten the possibility to drink on commuter rail... really, need we be so damned prudish? I think that we must accept that people will always drug themselves and have some dumb-ass darwinian death stories as a result. I prefer that to a society where i'm not allowed to do anything that places me in some percieved danger.
i remember getting wasted on the train (metro north) at age 16. i must've looked about 12. my friend and i had a six pack each and no one said one word. i remember thinking it was pretty cool. now i just think it's weird that even the conductor did not yell at us.
Another thing I forgot is both the LIRR and Metro-North have bar carts selling brverages to commuters at stations in the evening.
So they are making some money off of drunk commuters.
The difference in policy is hypocritical, but the solution is to bring back the brown bag law for the subway. Not to restrict drinking everywhere.
As one above mentioned, teens routinely get shitface on the commuter rails and noone sez a word. The alchohol should be confiscated if the kiddies are underage. These suburban kids leave the train barely able to walk at 8pm on weekends ready to party in the city and the nite is still young. I am not against kids experimenting but they should be in a safe environment when doing it. I suppose I should be thankful they are not driving but with so many restrictive rules for adult in this city why should these kids beable to drink with impunity.
yeah, the teens are always coming to get me. Teens and that damn Dick Tracy.