According to a July 19, AP report “The operator of a light-rail train that crashed [in San Francisco], injuring dozens of passengers as well as the operator, came under scrutiny on Sunday as federal investigators tried to figure out why he turned off the automatic controls moments before the accident. Ted Turpin, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the operator switched the controls from automatic to manual in a tunnel near the West Portal Station and that he never engaged the emergency brake. Had the operator kept the autopilot on, Mr. Turpin said, the train would have slowed down before arriving at the station and most likely not have careened into a parked train while going 23 miles per hour.”
Fall Was The Result Of Elevated Related Risk
July 5, 2013
In, NICOMETI v. THE VINEYARDS OF FREDONIA, LLC (June 2013) the Fourth Department held that contrary to the contention of defendants, the Supreme Court properly concluded that plaintiff’s fall was the result of an elevation-related risk for which Labor Law § 240 (1) provides protection.