A fractured back, as well as other injuries, has detrimentally affected a Salem college student’s academic future to the point that she has decided to file a suit against the MBTA for their responsibility in a trolley crash, as reported by the Boston Herald.
The accident, occurring two years ago, was due to the trolley driver texting just before the crash.
The college student, S.M., 21, said that besides her studies being affected, she has spent thousands of dollars of her own money for medical care. S.M. said, “I’m fed up with being broken.
I get frustrated with myself because I can’t do what I want to do.”
S.M. was 19 at the time of the accident. She had taken a seat in the first car of the Green Line trolley on May 8, 2009, when it ran into another train.
As the trolley approached the Government Center the driver was sending text messages to his girlfriend.
S.M. was thrown out of her seat and flung into a pole. She lost consciousness – twice – and fractured her back.
Her temple was also smashed.
Per her family, S.M. has since suffered from vertigo, chronic back pain and problems that affect her attention. The latter being what affects her college studies the most.
Since the accident S.M. has reportedly fallen no less than seven times. She has been in the Lawrence hospital emergency room for each occurrence and has physical therapy three times each week.
Currently S.M. has a scholarship at Merrimack College. As her grades have dropped – due to her having a hard time focusing – she is no longer a straight-A student and her scholarship in now in jeopardy.
F.M., S.M.’s father, said, “How do you put a dollar amount on pain and suffering? She should have some of this burden taken off her shoulders.”
There are 11 other lawsuits against MBTA for the 2009 accident. J.P., the MBTA spokesman, said that the accident injured 68 people in all.
The trolley driver, A.Q., pleaded guilty to gross negligence in operating a common carrier.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a review that faulted the T for lacking a system that would prevent trains from getting too close to each other by stopping them automatically.
S.M.’s suit finds MBTA to be responsible as they failed to properly vet their driver. A.Q. had three speeding tickets, and a surchargeable accident, on his record.
R.D., MBTA’s General Manager, declined to discuss any specifics of the lawsuit due to the “active litigation.” He did, however, state that since the accident MBTA had banned cell phone use.
R.D. said, “We continue to have some of the toughest policies in place in the country in terms of cell phone use and texting.
I am pleased to say I think we have a good policy in place that people are abiding by, but unfortunately it took a couple of accidents to get us there.”
MBTA has used the report by the National Transportation Safety Board and begun the process to stop trains in a “positive train control system.” Of the new system R.D. said, “That will take some time and certainly resources to ultimately roll out.”
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