A subway platform can be a fun place to hang out while intoxicated—that 10-20 minute late-night lag between trains goes a lot faster when time's fuzzy, for instance, and there's something comforting about shedding wine-inspired tears while surrounded by strangers. But it can also be dangerous—drunk people can stumble onto subway tracks or stick their heads and limbs too far out in front of an oncoming train, causing injury or death.
The MTA's been trying to come up with new technology to help prevent these deaths. But now, a Japanese railway company's devised a way to reorient benches that may keep drunk people from toppling over the platform edge. According to a study they did, 60 percent of people they observed falling on train tracks did so after getting up from a bench and walking straight to the platform; 30 percent were already standing when they fell, and only 10 percent stumbled after they "gradually drifted towards the ledge."
The report says subway falls would be best prevented if benches were designed to sit perpendicular to the platform, preventing drunk people from walking straight to the edge after sitting. Though, anyone sitting on those wooden germ pews that currently live inside subway stations might have bigger issues to deal with... Let's all just stand with our backs to the walls.
