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Meanwhile, at South Station, man burned by live catenary wires at 4 a.m. continues shocking case against Amtrak, MBTA

By adamg on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 4:17pm

Brian Hopkins, a New Yorker up in Boston for a little barhopping a few years back, sued Amtrak in 2008, alleging the railroad failed to alert him that climbing on top of a train at 4 a.m. might result in such severe burns that he'd lose one of his arms.

Hopkins has since added the MBTA to his lawsuit (of course). Hopkins' lawyers now want Amtrak to hand over all the documentation they have on people who have ever been electrocuted by grabbing catenary wires in general and dating back to 1991 at South Station specifically.

Amtrak replies that case law holds Hopkins can't prove Amtrak negligence because of earlier accidents, that there were no catenary wires at South Station until 2001 and that, in any case, a review by the MBTA of all incidents at South Station since then show the only person injured by grabbing live overhead wires was Hopkins.

Hopkins's latest complaint.
Amtrak's latest filing.
Hopkins's response.

Neighborhoods: 
Boston
Topics: 
The T
Free tagging: 
Amtrak
South Station
Lawsuits


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Comments

By anon on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 5:24pm.

Let's see. If I decide to cross the Mass Pike on foot at 4 AM, get hit by a speeding car, and lose an arm and a leg, I should sue the (now defunct) Mass Turnpike Authority and for my injuries "because I didn't know I could get hit by a speeding car"?

Better yet, if I climb up on a telephone pole, grab exposed electric wires, and end up losing an arm due with severe 3rd degree burns, I should sue NSTAR because "I didn't know those were LIVE WIRES"?

Best of all: I decide to swim across Cape Cod Bay in the middle of a Nor'Easter and drown. Should my family sue the state of Massachusetts because "I didn't understand the risks and dangers associated with swimming across Cape Cod Bay in bad weather?"

While it's easy to sympathize with someone who lost an arm due to 3rd degree burns, and in many cases he would be fully justified in suing whoever/whatever caused his trauma, this is not one of them. What was he even DOING trying to grab the overhead wires on top of an Amtrak car? If he was that intoxicated I'm not sure ANY signs would make a difference. Nothing can protect someone against their own idiocy and stupidity, especially Yankees fans.

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By anon on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 11:51am.

if I didn't see the case on Court TV where the guy 'surfing' on the Red Line sued the T after he got hurt. He supposedly hopped on the ledge of the door as the train left the station and tried to surf down the station, but hit the wall at the end. The trial was quite long.

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By anon on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 9:08am.

I'm shocked such frivolous lawsuits aren't defused immediately.

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