Accident Reports
A Newsday examination of the LIRR’s accident database and all accident reports from January 2001 through August 2006 found many descriptions of gap-related falls that were not checked off as such and therefore were not classified in the database as gap-related incidents.
This discrepancy in record-keeping leaves the LIRR with incomplete gap fall data.
The database obtained from the LIRR for January 2001 — August 2006 indicated 342 gap falls. Newsday found 429 or 87 more by looking through the database and the accident reports.
According to LIRR officials, a secretary in the safety division reads the narrative on each report to determine the first or primary cause of the accident. So a slip on the platform that ended up with a fall into the gap may only be attributed as a platform incident.
The number of gap falls could be much higher. Newsday obtained only a portion of the accident reports. Click on the station names below to read some of the accident reports. Auburndale Babylon Bay Shore Bayside Belmont Park Bethpage Brentwood Bridgehampton Carle Place Cedarhurst Copiague Deer Park Douglaston East Williston Flatbush Avenue Flushing Forest Hills Freeport Garden City Great Neck Hampton Bays Hewlett Hicksville Hunterspoint Avenue Huntington Jamaica Station Kew Gardens Laurelton Long Beach Lynbrook Manhasset Massapequa Merrick Mineola New Hyde Park Northport Penn Station Port Jefferson Port Washington Ronkonkoma Sea Cliff Seaford Shea Stadium Speonk St. James Stewart Manor Syosset Valley Stream Westbury Westwood Woodside
MORE ACCIDENT REPORTS: Newsday's database of accidents from 2001 to 2006 contains more than 2,000 records. Download the data in Excel format. |