Deaths on New York City’s subway train tracks increased in 2022 to 88, a 35% increase from the 2018 and 2019 averages of 65 deaths per year, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
For comparison, vehicles hit and killed 118 pedestrians in 2022, down 8 from the recorded in 2021, SI Live reported. This means that the number of deaths below ground on the subway pulled closer to that among drivers above ground. (RELATED: Commuter Pulled To His Death In Manhattan After Getting Stuck In Subway Doors)
The MTA is testing new ways to prevent subway and rail tracks fatalities — from surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to calming blue lights.
“We know most incidents begin with people voluntarily getting on the tracks.”https://t.co/9aSuA10syd
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 29, 2023
While only 88 of the 1,364 subway incidents ended in death in 2022, 15% were accidental falls or medical emergencies and 10% were suicides or suicide attempts, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Another 10% constituted drugged or drunk people and another 20% constituted the mentally ill.
An increasing number of accidents are subway surfers. In the past four months, two 15-year-old surfers died, and another lost his arm.
Following the death of one of the 15-year-old “subway surfers” on the Williamsburg Bridge in February, New York City Transit President Richard Davey said, “We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to ride on the outside of trains,” Davey said. “Our hearts go out to loved ones at yet another tragic time. We implore other families to speak with their children on the real dangers of what can seem like a thrill but is too often deadly.”
In the fall of 2021, the MTA launched a Track Trespassing Task Force to address the issue of track intrusion.