Passenger Trains > DC Metro Safety: You're on your own?

The DC Metro subway, DC Fire  & Rescue, and lawyers for people killed / injured in the L'Enfant fire incident are trading motions and claims as the case moves toward trial for damages.  The DC Metro has issued a claim that it's not their responsibility to protect or save people in the case of fire. They run buses and subways, not fire trucks.

The outraged fire department and riders differ with that. It is DC Metro's responsibility to maintain a safe environment, and they have a duty to care for the people in their custody. They also have an obligation to operate their power systems and huge fans in a safe manner (not blow smoke and fresh air back into the fire situation). And train their people to act in a safe manner, and conduct fire fighters to point of incident.

One issue in this case is the concern by firefighters that the power was still on at the point where they were to enter the tunnels. They heard nearby trains, and had little confidence, based on their experience, that Metro had turned off the power. There were no Metro Staff people who could assure them that the power was indeed off. I believe that has been addressed with various visible indicators for power on / power off status.

The squabble occurs as new general manager Paul Wiedefeld tries to get employees into a "safety culture" and has shut down the system for training and inspections several times. SafeTrack has restored several miles of poorly maintained track to good order, more is on the way.

DC Metro / WMATA chairman Jack Evans says he wishes the words weren't on the motion but he's "not part of the legal team" on the case

Mixed signals ahead?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> The DC Metro has issued a claim that
> it's not their responsibility to protect or save
> people in the case of fire.

100% TRUE and applies to any/all companies/entities. The "act" of "activily protecting and saving lives" is not their responsibility.

> It is DC Metro's responsibility to
> maintain a safe environment, and they have a duty
> to care for the people in their custody. They also
> have an obligation to operate their power systems
> and huge fans in a safe manner (not blow smoke and
> fresh air back into the fire situation). And train
> their people to act in a safe manner, and conduct
> fire fighters to point of incident.

100% TRUE and this is where they failed. They, and every company/entity is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe envirornment for employees and anyone in their custody such as riders, as well as to activily take immediate steps to minimize risk during an emergency when ever and where ever possible. This is where they failed by allowing problems with the fans, communication problems and lack of clear proceedure and verification of removal of power.

A clear and understandable example: It is not a building owners responsiblity to maintain a fire department or fire personal to save and protect lives in the case of a fire in the building. BUT, it is the building owners responsibility to maintain required fire sprinklers and alarms to hopefully allow any personal within the building a way and time to exist the building in case of fire and to hopefully minimise or slow the spread of the fire until properly trained fire fighters arrive on scene as well as to assist them with accessible water.

 

There's long history in case law that government entities have no legal duty to protect you. (A particularly egregious case here -- Warren v. District of Columbia -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia) 

The WMATA compact says the sovereign immunity of the participating jurisdictions extends to the transit agency. Simply put, the negligence standards that apply to you, and me, and private businesses do not apply to WMATA, or the DC Fire and EMS Department.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA