Report finds teen responsible for LIRR gap fall
BY JENNIFER MALONEY
Newsday Staff Writer
November 20, 2006, 11:35 PM EST
ALBANY -- A state investigation into the death of a Minnesota tourist who fell into a Long Island Rail Road gap at the Woodside station found that the inebriated teen likely was responsible for her own death.
The four-page report issued Monday by the state's Public Transportation Safety Board cited two probable causes of the August accident: Smead's actions and her alcohol-impaired state.
Natalie Smead, 18, who had been drinking alcohol with about a dozen friends before and during their train ride from Merrick in August, lost her balance while trying to hold a train door open, according to the report. She fell through the gap, crawled under the concrete platform and was struck by a train on the other side.
"Our finding is that the railroad was in compliance ... with state and federal law," in how it responded to the incident, said Thomas Madison Jr., board chairman and commissioner of the state Department of Transportation.
In addition, it met the state and industry standard for a minimum gap width of 7 inches, the report found, while noting that there is no standard for a maximum gap width.
"This certainly was a tragic and terrible accident and our heartfelt condolences go out to Ms. Smead's family ... Madison said. "We can do everything in our power to make sure that a system is safe and reliable, but there is always that variable of personal responsibility that's involved in these circumstances."
Bob Sullivan, the attorney for the Smead family, who have filed a $5 million lawsuit against the LIRR and its parent, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said of the report: "Frankly, it's a disgrace. To put in, as the cause, alcohol and nothing else, is unbelievable."
Calling the report a cover-up, he said state investigators had relied on interviews conducted by MTA police. The MTA had, in effect, been investigating itself, he said.
The LIRR had no comment on the report, saying only that it was reviewing it.
The state probe is the first of several investigations into the death of the teen -- who died while visiting family on Long Island -- and the issue of wide platform gaps. According to Newsday measurements, gaps stretch as wide as 15 inches at some stations, and the LIRR has taken several measures to narrow them in the wake of Smead's death.
According to the report, the gap where Smead fell on Woodside's track 3 was between 7 7/8 inches and 8 1/2 inches -- which complies with state and industry standards requiring a minimum gap of 7 inches. Newsday measurements on the same track showed gaps stretching as wide as 11 inches in spots.
State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson said state investigators made their own measurements and conducted interviews before coming to the conclusion that Smead was largely responsible. They also used sworn statements taken by MTA police as well as federal investigators.
Natalie Smead's cousin, Colette Heefner, 17, of Merrick, who described the accident in a Newsday interview last week, said she spoke twice to an MTA investigator -- but has not been questioned by any other official. Heefner, who briefly held her cousin's hand after Smead fell, let go to hold the train doors open. In the report, Heefner is described in the report as Acquaintance No. 1.
"The young woman's acquaintances and railroad personnel immediately gathered about her, telling her not to move and that they would get her out," the report said.
But one minute later, after letting go of her cousin's hand, Smead crawled under the concrete platform and emerged on the other side just as an eastbound train was pulling into the station, according to the report.
The train's engineer saw Smead and slammed on the brakes, but could not stop in time, the report said.
"Normally, trains would be given a verbal message on the radio to slow down and be prepared to stop or come to a stop if the situation warranted it," said Jerry Shook, director of rail safety for the Public Transportation Safety Board. "There wasn't time to get the message out."
Sullivan questioned the accuracy of two measurements made by state investigators of the gap Smead fell through.
Two days after the accident, MTA police "positioned the train as close as possible to the spot where it had stopped on the afternoon of the accident," the report said. PTSB staff measured a 7 7/8-inch gap between the platform edge and the train door.
On Aug. 24, state investigators measured the distance between the center line of the track and the edge of the platform using the LIRR's track geometry vehicle, a measuring device. They measured a distance of 5-feet-8 1/2 inches, which corresponds to a gap of about 8 1/2 inches.
Newsday measurements along the same track have shown gaps of 9, 10 and 11 inches. The report did not specify where Smead fell.
Asked about the fact that no standard exists for a maximum safe gap width, Shook said: "I guess the bluntest way to put it is they're bound by common sense. Obviously, you would not have a gap of 12 feet."
Sullivan also questioned the New York City medical examiner's toxicology test cited in the report, which said Smead had a blood alcohol level of .23 percent. The blood-alcohol test was performed 90 minutes after Smead was struck by the train, according to the report. Smead received 9 pints of blood at Bellevue Hospital, Sullivan said. It is unclear whether the test was done before or after she received the blood.
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