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Guy sues Amtrak for failing to keep him from climbing on top of a train and getting zapped
By adamg on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 7:59pm
So this barhopping New Yorker up in Boston climbs on top of an Acela train at South Station late one night in 2006, reaches up and is promptly zapped with 27,000 or so volts, leading to serious burns and injuries, including the loss of his left arm.
Naturally, he's suing Amtrak for gross negligence, because it failed to do enough to keep idiots from climbing on top of trains and grabbing hold of electrical wires.
In his suit (original complaint), Brian Hopkins argues Amtrak should have known people routinely trespass at South Station and so should have turned off the electricity at night, parked trains away from the station and warned people that grabbing hold of high-voltage power lines could cause serious injuries.
In its reply, Amtrak basically argues Hopkins's injuries were his own damn fault.
Hopkins (and his parents) originally brought the suit in a Queens state court, because he lives there; Amtrak won a request to have the suit moved to federal court, because it was created by Congress and is still half owned by the federal government. The suit is now before federal district court in Brooklyn.
Via the Herald.
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Comments
Hey Brian Hopkins
Why don't you climb back up on the train and finish yourself off?
What a waste of life this guy must be.
And you're quite the winner yourself...
...judging from how almost all of the comments you make on here are to insult someone.
Hey, I don't appreciate the court system being clogged up with this guy's sense of entitlement either, but people who engage in risky behavior clearly have some problems and really deserve compassion and forgiveness.
Not that I think there's anyone who's worthy of being called "a waste of life" and being encouraged to kill themselves.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Compassion and forgiveness?
There might be some if he wasn't trying to extort Amtrak. Now everybody else will have to pay more for train tickets because they'll undoubtedly write this guy a check to make the lawsuit go away.
I didn't tell him to be a drunk dumbass. Where were his friends in all of this? Did he get lit by himself? Really? Nobody in his social circle was with him to say "hey, don't climb upon trains and electrocute yourself?"
His aim in life is clearly to mooch off of others, so why doesn't he just make himself go away? Only those who want to be helped can be helped. He doesn't want to be helped, he wants to antagonize Amtrak.
Oh, I see, it's all about you...
And when people engage in self-harming behaviors that don't get publicized, our tax dollars and/or insurance premiums go toward getting them help. And you know what? I'm happy to pay those taxes and those insurance policies, because I value all humans and I wish that everyone could have the chance to grow and change and be in a place where they're happy enough with themselves that they aren't taking stupid risks.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Eeka vs. Will
No winner here for me. I can't help but side with and appreciate Ms. E's unilateral respect for human life, but seriously, what this guy did would not have been helped by a measly sign saying "ummm...you might not want to climb on this thing, and yeah, that huge wire? It's pretty juiced, so it'd probably be best not to touch it."* If we need signs telling people what not to do for our own safety, our planet would be one giant warning sign.
*There might be a reason they have to keep the caternaries electrified?
It kind of reminds me of that Simpsons episode when the family spends the summer at the Flanders beach camp, and Ned leaves instructional post-it notes literally on every single thing in the cabin.
And Will, you make it sound like he did this to mooch money off Amtrak. I say no way. There are way more easy (and less painful) methods to do that. I say he was just some drunken guy who did something incredibly stupid and was pounced upon by some ambulance chaser who figured out how to bend our horrific legal system.
Also, if Mr. Zapped claims that Amtrak should have known that S. Station is "constantly being trespassed," does anyone know if he ended up himself being arrested for trespassing?
Do Not Ride The Bears
Appropos SNL skit from wayyyyy long ago.
Can we give this guy a Darwin Award?
Though, probably not, he didn't actually kill himself.
I somehow doubt he's going to be passing anything along to another generation, though.
I am going to sue his parents
They knew or should have known that that having sex would produce a child, and said child would be a nitwit, and would get drunk, and electrocute himself, and sue the government, thus wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars, some of which came out of my pocket. I demand to be compensated.
You know what may be the worst bit?
The guy is an architect, and therefore responsible for the safety of others.
Architect?
Sheesh, I hope he's not left-handed.