PATCO almost squashes Theo
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Your retroactive prayers are in order. Julie, “Theo”:www.nonviolence.org/theo and my mother just came to visit me in the fgc office on our way to see the Philadelphia Flower Show. When they were walking out of the “PATCO”:http://www.drpa.org/patco/ train, the doors closed on Theo’s stroller, pinning his arms.
The PATCO train was about to start moving again. Good samaratans among the fellow passangers pried them open again amidst shouts and mayhem. The train operator opened the doors momentarily but almost crushed my mother who trailed the pace but no one from the “PATCO”:http://www.drpa.org/patco/ train came back to see what had happened. A Philadelphia police officer was nearby (apparently only because he was investigating a report of a woman being strangled this morning) and took the information and offered to call an ambulance.
By the time they arrived at my office, Theo was clearly still traumatized and upset, still crying and shaken up. After spinach lasagna and sweet potatoes he’s now cheering up. Everyone is okay but this is a shock. The “Delaware River Port Authority”:http://www.drpa.org/ is running dangerous trains with unskilled operators who are in too much of a hurry. Is it common for operators to close the doors without looking? Do they regularly close on people? Why don’t the doors automatically open when they hit an obstruction (like a stroller!)? Why don’t PATCO operators shut the train down for investigation when there’s a incident like this? They almost mangled my son and presumably PATCO has no record anything even happened.
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Martin, that was a heart-stopping entry! I'm so grateful that the outcome was ... well, I don't know what to say, I'm glad it wasn't worse, but it shouldn't have happened at all!! I always thought those official-sounding whistles and waving of lanterns, etc., were for something. OK, I'll stop blathering and go into retroactive prayer mode. *blowing kisses to Theo*
Yes, this was a troubling incident. Poor Theo, your wife and mother. I had a similar experience where my whole body was entrapped by the doors.
I hope Theo is doing OK along with his grandmother.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This happens in NYC all the time. The train won't move until the doors are all shut, so that's a good safety measure, but still. Every day I see someone struggling with their bookbag or elbow jammed in the door.
I'm glad the poor little guy is alright.
Love,
Amanda
I am so sorry to learn this. Sometimes I really am deeply troubled by the poor services of our public sector. I hope Theo could recover as soon as possible, and I will certainly pray for his speedy recovery.
Wow.. I'm grateful that fellow passengers were alert enough to jump into action!
...In my own experience when dealing with a complaint against a large businesses (Northwest Airlines, for example), I have found that the best way to get any action is to be a mensch: if you have the time and energy, call a local rep of PATCO, get their name and phone number; give them a week to get back to you, and let them know if you don't hear back within the week, you'll call back and then will speak to a supervisor. Do the same thing, all the way up the line, even into corporate and executive offices, taking notes and recording dates, names, and numbers the entire time. Also be specific in what you would like to have happen, especially as it relates directly to you and your situation.
In my case, it took about 6 months (literally!) to finally make my way to an executive vice president, who then was able to approve reimbursing my partner and me the $75 bucks we had requested for an error made by The Nasty Airline. (Imagine, then, how pissed we were in order to spend so much time on this.)
Not everyone wants to pursue this sort of action, of course, and there's always the media attention that you could garner if you made a really BIG stink... But thought I'd let you know what my own experience was, if in fact you and your family wanted to pursue this.
Glad are all well, in the meantime.
Blessings,
Liz
Hi Liz,
A plan I thought of would be to blog about the incident on a prominent website. To really work, "PATCO" should be in the title, preferably the first word, and there should be multiple links to PATCO and the Delaware River Port Authority.
I was mistreated by "Datarealm":http://www.epinions.com/content_122197020292, my old web hosting company and was able to get the #2 Google link for their name. I thought the "National Constitution Center":http://www.nonviolence.org/martink/archives/000082.php was a rip-off of taxpayer's money and a blight on the city of Philadelphia and I get Google hits for that all the time. Complaining through the chain of command is fun but so is see a Google visit two years later!