View Full Version : It's getting worse! MTA Operator Let Kid Drive Train, Rider Claims
samurai7
July 28th, 2009, 12:56 pm
Driving a subway is so easy an 8-year-old could do it – and one straphanger claims that's who he saw behind the controls of his train.
Jules Cattie, a 41-year-old lawyer who lives on the East Side, was shocked when he saw a young child at the helm, next to the driver, of his Lexington Avenue express train Sunday, according to the Daily News. And the MTA says it's launched "a vigorous and thorough investigation" into the allegation.
"I saw him driving. He couldn't have been more than 8 or 9," Cattie told the News. " I thought, 'This is really dangerous.' That has to be the craziest thing I've ever seen."
Kids obviously aren't allowed to drive trains; no one's even allowed to be in the cab with the train operator, according to MTA rules. So if what Cattie says he saw wasn't just a figment of his imagination, someone's going to be in trouble
Geeze! :rolleyes:
This is absolutely ridiculous!
:rolleyes:
wayoverthehill
July 28th, 2009, 1:12 pm
Geeze! :rolleyes:
This is absolutely ridiculous!
:rolleyes:It could be worse - the kid could have been texting while driving!
And people wonder why other people shun public transportation.
LouC
July 28th, 2009, 3:53 pm
I tend to believe this did happen, considering the truth of the quality of employees at the controls, that are coming out as a result of the rash of crashes.
Fitz
July 28th, 2009, 3:59 pm
What exactly does driving a train entail when it's in motion?
wayoverthehill
July 28th, 2009, 8:58 pm
What exactly does driving a train entail when it's in motion?For one thing, STOPPING it if necessary. You have to be able to read the track signals.
gdoane
July 29th, 2009, 2:12 am
Danged cheap child labor.
I thought unions solved that problem.
Fitz
July 29th, 2009, 2:22 am
For one thing, STOPPING it if necessary. You have to be able to read the track signals.
Is that something the conductor is unable to do if he's standing a foot to the side?
LouC
July 29th, 2009, 9:13 am
Is that something the conductor is unable to do if he's standing a foot to the side?
Yes.
Not being at the controls is not being in control.
Add the fact there is a body in the way which is a physical obstacle it is also a mental distraction.
It is a gross violation of the rules and the operator needs to be fired and possibly brought up on criminal charges.
wayoverthehill
July 29th, 2009, 3:57 pm
Is that something the conductor is unable to do if he's standing a foot to the side?If he's standing a foot to the side, it would be rather difficult to hit the brake, doncha think? I think that works better if one is sitting down in the driver's seat.
Are you trying to find a way to justify this?
Fitz
July 29th, 2009, 4:04 pm
If he's standing a foot to the side, it would be rather difficult to hit the brake, doncha think? I think that works better if one is sitting down in the driver's seat.
Are you trying to find a way to justify this?
I'm not trying to justify it, I'm trying to find out if it's justifiable.
I don't know enough about what the cockpit (or whatever the applicable term might be) to know if that poses a legitimate threat.
Do they use gas and brake pedals that would prevent the conductor from being able to stop it?
Most depictions I've seen have a lever or a button for emergency braking.
LouC
July 29th, 2009, 5:59 pm
...I'm trying to find out if it's justifiable....
It is not justifiable.
Having an unauthorized person, minor or otherwise, in the operators cabin is not in the least bit justified.
It is an unjustified breech of operation.
jimjames418
July 29th, 2009, 6:22 pm
I'm not trying to justify it, I'm trying to find out if it's justifiable.
I don't know enough about what the cockpit (or whatever the applicable term might be) to know if that poses a legitimate threat.
Do they use gas and brake pedals that would prevent the conductor from being able to stop it?
Most depictions I've seen have a lever or a button for emergency braking.
Remember, due to track conditions some places require a reduced speed. And I am sure that a young person would not know when and by how much to reduce speed, or when it is safe to increase the speed again. :rolleyes:
Clamp
July 29th, 2009, 7:07 pm
No adults I knew while growing up ever let me drive a train. :(
jimjames418
July 29th, 2009, 7:52 pm
No adults I knew while growing up ever let me drive a train. :(
:boohoo: stero :boohoo:
wayoverthehill
July 29th, 2009, 10:45 pm
Remember, due to track conditions some places require a reduced speed. And I am sure that a young person would not know when and by how much to reduce speed, or when it is safe to increase the speed again. :rolleyes:That's why I said the operator has to be able to read track signals.