Red Cap cart falls on track and passengers at Union Station in Chicago

[Stevenz]

That's it huh?

Yup, that’s all that should be required of sensible people. Show them the video and say, don’t do this.

Perhaps a solution is to not use motorised vehicles. They’re heavy and go faster than is safe for that environment. I have also seen them transporting people who were perfectly mobile.

Then there are the electric carts used in airports. They careen around through crowds with no margin for error. I wonder how many mishaps happen in airports.

 

[Stevenz]

It won't get that heated. It is as clear a case of dead bang liability as a rear end car accident. Documented on video. Amtrak knows it, Amtrak's lawyers know it, the plaintiff's lawyer knows it. A settlement will be negotiated, Amtrak is inescapably on the hook for this and everyone involved is well aware of that, the only real question is the amount.

As to overreacting, I do not think outrage over an inattentive driver dumping a passenger four feet onto the tracks then having several hundred pounds of cart and luggage land on them is overreacting.

There is the amount and then there’s the pound of flesh. This is a made-for-TV-news event.

 

[zephyr17]

There is the amount and then there’s the pound of flesh. This is a made-for-TV-news event.

They've got a gold plated, dead bang case, on video no less. They'll get a pound of flesh.

When it settles it won't be on TV though. Yesterday's news.

Their 15 minutes on this is already past. From here on out it's just the lawyers doing fairly routine settlement negotiations. The only difference is Amtrak and their lawyers know they have already reached for the soap and are just going to have close their eyes and take it.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Are the mail platforms used for servicing vehicles?

Not much on the platform or the tracks next to them.

 

[PVD]

Would the arbitration agreement for ticketed passengers cover this type of incident? (i don't actually care whether people think it should or shouldn't, just whether it does)

 

[zephyr17]

Would the arbitration agreement for ticketed passengers cover this type of incident? (i don't actually care whether people think it should or shouldn't, just whether it does)

Good point. It's likely it does, IMHO. They were ticketed passengers (and so agreed to arbitration as a condition of buying the ticket) on the way to Amtrak train, on Amtrak property using an Amtrak service provided by an Amtrak employee.