Subway Motorman Who Hit Shoved Straphanger: "I Saw The Guy, And I Did What I Was Trained To Do"

Photograph of the 49th Street subway station by luluinnyc | Amy Dreher

The subway motorman who ran over a Queens father with a Q train earlier this week was so traumatized by the event that he had to be taken to the hospital. "I saw the guy, and I did what I was trained to do," Legree told the News in his first interview. "You’re hopeful you’re going to stop, but you don’t have control of the train at that point."

The death of Ki-Suck Han, 58—who was pushed into the tracks after an argument—was especially upsetting to motorman Terrance Legree as it was the 21-year MTA veteran's first time hitting someone in the 14 years he has been a motorman.

Recalling the incident Legree told the paper he saw people signaling him to stop at the 49th Street station in midtown Manhattan. "I panned my eyes and saw the guy on the roadbed,” Legree said. “He was looking at the platform. He never moved." Afterwards he recalled "all kinds of emotions from 'Why is this happening?' to 'Why was that guy down there?' to 'What happened?...You try to be calm. You try to handle the situation."

One thing that didn't help? Rubberneckers with their cameras—"People were taking pictures of the poor gentleman. They didn’t want to leave." Soon after the accident Legree, who his conductor said "was getting all choked up in his voice as people were asking him what happened," was taken away to be treated for trauma. He is still recovering.

The still contractless Transit Workers Union, meanwhile, is using the incident as a reminder of their ongoing disputes with the MTA. "This is the type of unseen trauma our members go through every day operating trains and buses, and why we deserve a fair contract," TWU president John Samuelsen said of the incident. Interestingly, the horror of these incidents is one of the few things the MTA and the TWU agree on. At the beginning of contract negotiations this year both sides seemed ready to agree that employees who witnessed any kind of subway accident—even non-fatal ones—deserved mental health days.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in News on December 5, 2012 11:26 AM

Comments [rss]

Robert Petersen

this just confirms my belief that living East of the Mississippi does something to your brain. How many billion$$ are you willing to spend to save, what 10? 50? lives per year from things like this? We would be far better off buying everybody that rides the subway a bicycle and turn the tracks into a trail. Or maybe personal air bags? Or for no $$ we could just accept that shit happens and people die and that's just part of living in a modern world. At least that's how it looks from the Rocky Mountains but then we don't have a subway, just chairlifts, smelly buses and drunk drivers

478nist

They should have the 'suicide pits' like they have on the London Underground. Although the guy was so dazed here it might not have helped anyway.

Major_Bupkis

Have you guys ever noticed that the platform hangs over the rail bed by several feet? Sometimes you see trash piled up underneath it. It seems like that would be the best place to go until the train leaves the station, at which point you could try to pull yourself onto the platform or walk to the end of the platform where the ladder is.

dollarmenu

I believe this was proposed before, but what's the issue with trains slowing before they reach the station? Would the cumulative effect of a longer approach to the platform have that much impact on their overall schedules? At least they'd be able to stop in time then (or it'd be easier to run down the tunnel).

Blue387

I found it confusing who Legree was in the first paragraph before finding out in the second paragraph. Please fix this.

Douglas Irvine

So many people are killed in car accidents, those equally tragic deaths are not even reported. If you want to save lives, resurrect congestion pricing and reduce the number of cars in our mass transit rich, walkable city. And use good road design to slow the remaining cars down.

futomaki

I've used the below article extensively and tell everyone I know about this:

http://gothamist.com/2011/10/1...

" The best thing you can do is run as far down the platform as you can
(in the opposite direction from where the train enters the station) and
wave your arms frantically to get the train operator and passenger's
attention."

If the man who had fallen had the ability to stand up and try and climb up onto the platform, couldn't he have moved himself further down the platform? Does anyone know where he was in relation to the beginning of the platform?

Mike Pants

Sounds like he was a bit too drunk to keep those sorts of things in mind.

Patrick Riot

how about some sort of simple ladder or step every few feet along the platform?

Politburo

That would encourage people to go down and get dropped items, potentially leading to more injuries than the baseline.

JenChungsBaby

Brilliant. A 3 or 4 step ladder that hangs from the bottom of the platform.

diablofreak

i think platform screen doors on crowded stations - and you dont need the full height one there are half height screen doors

Peanut_Butter

Nah....not necessary. I have not in my lifetime ever been forced near the platform's edge no matter how crowded it was, if it was not my choice to be. Fights which escalate are not included in these instances.

Peanut_Butter

"I saw the guy, and I did what I was trained to do," Legree told the News in his first interview. "You’re hopeful you’re going to stop, but you don’t have control of the train at that point."

I don't think that it's cynical to observe that this sounds like a statement that one might make after having spoken to a lawyer.

urbanexplorer

Once they observe someone on the tracks they are trained to place the trains brakes into emergency, at that point the operator has no control over how far the train will continue to slide before the emergency brake brings it to a complete stop. Sounds like an non-lawyer shorthand explanation of the above to me.

Peanut_Butter

Fair enough. I can certainly see that view point as well.

Len_Drexler

Love how the TWU President is exploiting the tragedy.

Mack Argument

If only we had automated this man's job sooner he'd be saved this trauma.

LOLCowboys

Yes, a union job with the MTA must be so stressful. Tons of time off, guaranteed pay raises, excellent health care, and not having to worry about getting fired. So stressful.

urbanexplorer

If customers on the platform had to be treated for shock caused by the trauma of witnessing this horrific tragedy how stressful do you think it was for the man pulling the emergency brake in the front row seat?