Watch Out for Falling Luggage from Above Head Racks on Trains

A not so funny thing happened when I was settling into a train ride from Brooklyn NY. Minutes before the doors closed a couple of  young women (one in a long tailored coat) boarded with very large hard suitcases. A little voice in my head said I could see if they needed help.

But I was not facing them and they seemed to be managing. Plus I was just sitting down. Within a moment of them lifting one piece up, I heard a gasp and urgent  'Oh no!' As I turned around, I saw the large shiny suitcase careening down an invisible slide toward the seats below.

One fellow saw it headed toward him and before he could do much, it bonked him on the head. The gal in the next seat was facing away from the flying suitcase however and got a surprise impact on her head. I was joining in the concern but they were all just a seat or two away and there wasn't much I could do but try to help triage after the luggage landed on it's own accord, falling into the aisle. The tall fairly strong looking women were dismayed and apologetic.

They also were going to try again to figure out how to get their luggage up on the racks. I told them that wasn't necessary. They were going to leave them in the aisle and I said that wasn't a great option since people would have to get by. I showed them where there was a space for large luggage in the car next to ours, and asked someone to move so they could sit by their luggage.

The woman didn't mind doing so since there was a free seat in the car we came from. They got settled. Then after a bit I checked on how the people were faring who had gotten their rude awakening to the perils of not being aware of what was going on in their immediate surroundings. They both were still a bit shaken up and the gal had some pain in her shoulder. I encouraged them to both write a statement to the NY MTA with their contact information.

Then I told the conductor what happened. He immediately asked if the train had started moving when the incident occurred. When we said it had not, then he said "Well, there's nothing we can do then." I begged to differ on behalf of these folks. Even watching it was rather shocking. I asked if he would turn in the complaints and he said he'd pass them along.

But he reiterated that as far as he knew, if the traine were not moving, then whatever happened to passengers was not a concern or responsibility of the MTA. I would suggest that they post a sign indicating people could ask for help if there were heavy luggage but also that it could be stored at the end of the cars particularly if the train is not crowded. I did notice some other large luggage was placed in the high rack already, so likely it would have fit. Yet the weight of it and the bars were a bit slipperly likely with the hard plastic or metal.

Perhaps other passengers or personnel could serve as 'look outs' for someone who may need help and encourage an orderly procedure or again a consult about not lifting very heavy suitcases. Other passengers could be given 'fare warning' and encouraged to get out of their seats of there is a large luggage being placed in the high racks. Short of all that, the passengers 'at fault' for the luggage going astray could have offered to pay for the fare of the passengers, given them their contact information and perhaps other compensation.

Someone could have been seriously injured if not 'done in' by such an object falling on them so I am sharing this with everyone to up people's Situational Awareness about unstable objects, moving things and being pro-active in getting some immediate information for follow-up. The two women got off at the very next stop so their identity was not shared with the people that got hurt by the luggage or the MTA.

The conductor could have had some protocol to help secure that kind of information. I will send this into the MTA. Hopefully they can give the people involved some compensation or at least a refund of the train fare or other compensation. Let's learn from such mishaps and be careful for how we manage our actions, not rush and take time to find help to get things done safely and effectively. Much easier than figuring out making amends after damage has been done.