Sep 15, 2006 8:59 am US/Eastern
Dangerous Gaps: Man Plummets From Platform At Shea
by Tamsen Fadal
QUEENS (CBS) ―
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Nihal Mehta says he fell through the LIRR platform gap at the Shea Station stop and broke his ribs.
CBS
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A sign warns of the gap between trains and platforms on the LIRR.
CBS
CBS 2 Exclusive - For more than a month, CBS 2 has taken the lead in exposing a problem that has put passengers in harm's way. And now, it's happened again. This time, a corporate executive who takes mass transit all the time, says he fell through a gap at the Shea Stadium-LIRR station.
The latest incident happened on Track 1. The victim says he's a New Yorker, and he's no stranger to mass transit. But he's now he's one of a number of other people who have fallen through gaps, just trying to get around.
It's taking Nihal Mehta a little longer than usual to get through Los Angeles International Airport, especially since he is suffering from broken ribs. Mehta who is CEO of a multi-million dollar marketing firm is no stranger to travel, but he was in no way prepared for what happened at the Shea Stadium-Long Island Railroad station last week.
"I was actually leaving at the same time as the departure of a Mets game. So a lot of people were there. I wasn't looking where I was going. All of a sudden I just plummeted through a large gap in between the train and the platform," said Mehta.
Mehta, his friends and girlfriend were among the hundreds of people boarding an LIRR train after attending the US Open. They were trying to get back to Manhattan.
According to Mehta's girlfriend, Joya Banerjee, "As the train pulled up, you couldn't really see that there was an 11 inch gap between the platform. So we were getting on the train and there was a huge rush of people pushing, and he fell right behind me."
He fell right through up to his chest. As Mehta's friends pulled him off the tracks before the train moved, the conductor and police were called to help before the train moved on.
Mehta and his girlfriend came back to the platform the next day to measure the gap and see if there were any warning signs posted that they might have missed.
"There were no signs and we did not hear any announcement," Mehta said.
Mehta's fall came just one day after 4-year-old Britney Walker fell between an LIRR gap at Penn Station, and one month after 18-year-old Natalie Smeade died falling into a gap at the Woodside station.
Those incidents prompted a CBS 2 investigation that exposed several dangerous gaps at stations around the area.
Last year they [had] 56 gap related accidents -- more than one a week on the LIRR. To find out a year later that it has not been fixed, that people are dying, that people like myself are falling through -- this is not a third world country. This is America, and we need to do something about this today," Mehta said.
CBS 2 contacted a spokesperson for the LIRR who said, "The platform gap is a matter that the LIRR takes very seriously. We are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board in their review of gap concerns."
Mehta says he is considering taking legal action because of what happened to him.
CBS 2 Coverage Of Train Risks
NTSB Investigating LIRR Gap Death CBS 2 Probe Of Gaps Leads To 90-Day Study Closing The Gap: CBS 2 Gets Action CBS 2 Reports: Subway Safety In Question Teen Dies After Being Struck By LIRR Train LIRR Faces Safety Questions Following Girl's Death Tourist Death Prompts LIRR Investigation Subway Doors Are Not To Be Taken For Granted Transit Safety Tips National Association Of Railroad Passengers Safety Suggestions LIRR Safe Rules Of The Railroad MTA: Riding Safely On The Subway NJ Transit Rail SafetyOther Stories Of Train Nightmares Little Girl Falls Between Gaps At Penn Station Child Survives Plunge Into LIRR Train Gap Mother, Baby Stroller Get Caught In Subway Door 
-- See The Slideshow! Chicago Train Speeding Before Derailment
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