Moet McCullum, 41, an MTA worker and construction flagger, was killed the night of Sept. 3 in a subway accident after she was struck by a train. According to a news report on ABC7.com, McCullum, a Brooklyn mother of three with just 11 months on the job, was preparing to set up flagging lights on the tracks near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station when she was struck by a southbound D train.
Ongoing Investigation
This was the first on-the-tracks fatality of a transit worker since November 2023 when 57-year-old Hilarion Joseph, also a construction flagger, was struck and killed by a D train at the 34th Street-Herald Square station. Another flagger suffered severe head trauma in June 2024 after he was hit by an out-of-service F train in Brooklyn.
Flagging is one of the most dangerous jobs on subway tracks. After the 2023 fatal incident, the Federal Transit Administration ordered the MTA to improve track safety. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a team out to investigate this accident. New York City Transit officials released a statement saying that the incident is under investigation. McCullum’s family members have also made statements in the media that they are looking for answers. Our deepest condolences go out to them.
Dangers Faced by Construction Flaggers
Construction flaggers play an important role in keeping subway construction and maintenance projects organized and safe. Their job is to control the movement of workers, trains, equipment, and sometimes, vehicles or pedestrians around active work areas. They may use hand signals, signs, radios or other communication methods to alert crews to approaching trains, coordinate equipment movement, and help establish safe work zones.
Subway flaggers face significant risks every day as they often work near active tracks, heavy machinery, electrical equipment and moving trains. A momentary communication failure, poor visibility, equipment malfunction or failure to follow established safety procedures can have devastating consequences. The confined nature of subway tunnels and stations can make these dangers even more serious. Workers may have limited room to move away from an approaching train or piece of equipment, while loud construction activity can make it difficult to hear warnings.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
When a subway construction flagger is injured, identifying who may be legally responsible requires a careful investigation. Depending on the circumstances, liability may extend beyond the worker’s immediate employer.
A construction company or subcontractor could be liable if unsafe work practices, inadequate training, insufficient supervision or failures to follow safety procedures contributed to the accident. A property owner or project manager may also bear responsibility when dangerous conditions were known or should have been addressed.
In some cases, the operator and his/her employer of a train or construction vehicle may be responsible if negligence
(carelessness), inattention or failure to follow warnings caused the collision. Equipment manufacturers could potentially be liable when defective machinery or safety equipment contributes to an injury.
While workers’ compensation provide some benefits for employees injured on the job, a separate claim against third parties may also be filed. Third-party lawsuits such as against owners and managing agents can provide compensation for damages not covered by workers’ compensation, including pain and suffering, permanent injuries, emotional distress and full lost earnings, and these verdicts and settlements can be quite large. As liability depends on the facts and circumstances of the incident, injured workers or families of deceased workers would be well-advised to speak with a very experienced New York personal injury attorney promptly after an accident.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a struck-by accident or any type of construction accident, the very experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact a very experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company, or their lawyers, investigators, or adjusters.
For over 54 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job — one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year. Our law firm also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases. Also, we got $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an unguarded hole.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases, negligence cases, motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, trip-and-fall accidents, ceiling collapse cases, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases, quadriplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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Source:https://abc7ny.com/post/mta-worker-struck-killed-subway-train-yankee-stadium-bronx/19795165/