As Originally published by Natioanl Bus Trader, May 2004.
By: Ned Einstein
Tel: 212-766-1121
Email Mr. Einstein
As we all know, public transportation is a fiercely competitive business, even in operating environments which are subsidized. But the failure to make tiny investments in safety can be costly in the courtroom.
When a transportation operator kills or maims a passenger because a few dollars were saved in service or equipment, arguments about the competitive nature of the business generally fall upon deaf ears. When a passenger suffers because the operator actually spent more than was needed, but on a frill, even more severe verdicts or settlements may ensue:
In a society with no universal healthcare, little accountability, marginal recourse, and income disparities which often transform injuries into an extended family's complete ruin, victims and their attorneys have little practical choice but to chase the rainbows suddenly available to them when an injury or fatality occurs.
When a jury of one's peers is asked to assess transportation safety, the defendant's plate better not be missing a handful of magic beans. The general principle in transportation liability is that, within reason, safety should not be party to a trade-off for performance, durability, maneuverability, versatility, fuel efficiency or any other criteria by which vehicles and service are often evaluated. Safety better not appear as a trade-off for marginal, much less trivial, cost savings. And God help the defendant found trading safety for comfort or style.
In a society where the judicial system represents the last bastion of hope for most individuals using public transportation, one can expect the scales of justice to balance, if not tip, when opportunities arise to weigh the evidence. When the key evidence can be carried into court with one hand, or cost less than a single juror is being paid for his or her time in court, one should not be surprised when the other hand is filled with gold.
Ned Einstein is the President of Transportation Alternatives, a passenger transportation and automotive consortium engaged in consulting and forensic accident investigation and analysis (more than 600 cases). Specializes in elderly, disabled, schoolchildren. Mr. Einstein has been qualified as an Expert Witness in accident analysis, testimony and mediation in vehicle and pedestrian accidents involving transit, paratransit, schoolbus, motorcoach, special education, non-emergency medical transportation, taxi, shuttle, child transport systems and services...
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9/24/2013· Transportation
Buses and Motorcoaches: The Steel Wave
By: Ned Einstein
There are plenty of things obvious to almost any adult, motorist or pedestrian about large vehicles. The most obvious is their size and mass. But at the other end of the spectrum lie nuances rarely understood by anyone who has not driven a vehicle with a long wheelbase: The way such a vehicle turns, and the way its tires "track" compared to those of a typical automobile, van or pickup truck.
7/23/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 7: Stopping on the Wrong Side of the Intersection
By: Ned Einstein
For each route in each direction, transit stops are almost always located on one side of an intersection, not both. Stops just before the intersection are referred to as 'near-side' stops. Those just after the intersection are referred to as 'far-side' stops.
10/25/2023· Transportation
Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) Service and Wheelchair Tipovers
By: Ned Einstein
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that every wheelchair securement position have some type of floor hardware – and even specifies its longitudinal and lateral spacing (49 CFR 38.23(d)(2). It also requires that every position contain three sets of tie-downs – although the clear, irrefutable industry standard is four.
