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State: Alcohol Played Role In LIRR Gap Death

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Nov 20, 2006 6:47 pm US/Eastern

State: Alcohol Played Role In LIRR Gap Death

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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― A state board investigating the death of an 18-year-old hit by a commuter train in Queens reported Monday that she had been drinking and pulled away from people trying to help her.

Natalie Smead, of Northfield, Minn., was killed after falling through the gap between a Long Island Rail Road car and a station platform in August. But the Public Transportation Safety Board said the rail line was in compliance with government safety standards. A report from the board said the gap of just under 8 inches was "reasonably acceptable."

The report said Smead essentially put herself in the path of an oncoming train and noted her blood alcohol level of 0.23 is associated with severe impairment.

A lawyer for the teen's family, Robert Sullivan, called the report a "cover up" rife with omissions to protect the LIRR.

Smead died Aug. 5 while taking the train with a group of friends to a Dave Matthews concert in New York City. She fell onto the tracks while getting off a westbound train at Woodside Station and was trying to climb up on the other side of the platform when she was struck and killed by an eastbound train.

The report said the group had been drinking before and during the rail trip from Merrick, Long Island. After she fell into the gap, Smead was told to stay put and an acquaintance -- Sullivan said it was a cousin -- took her hand. Smead pulled away, though, and crawled under the platform to another track, where a train was not able to brake in time, according to the report.

The board called Smead's actions the most probable cause of the accident, with alcohol a contributing factor.

"This was certainly a tragic and terrible accident and our heartfelt condolences go out to Ms. Smead's family," said state Transportation Commissioner Thomas Madison, "but there's also a level of personal responsibility when you ride public transportation."

Sullivan said the report fails to make clear the train doors closed on Smead twice, which could have jostled her. And he suggested the gap may have been as wide as 13 inches.

"To try to lay it all on alcohol is nonsense," he said.

In response to Smead's death, rail officials plan to survey the entire system for possible improvements. They said it is the only known fatality attributed to someone falling through the gap. However, there have been nearly 130 injuries to commuters slipping through gaps since 2004.

The state board is conducting a separate systemwide investigation on rail line gaps that should be finished next
spring.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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