“That is how much the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad have paid over the last four years to customers who have torn clothing” on the armrests of their M7 trains. I’ve torn pants pockets on armrests that weren’t on M7 trains, but never thought to ask for compensation for something that was my own damn fault. I’m apparently a sucker, but at least no one is seeking to add this claim of damages to the obesity lawsuits. Yet. (William Neuman, “M.T.A. Gets Bill When Armrests Chew Up Pants”, NY Times, Dec. 6 (h/t W.F.)).)
“$102,009.17 buys an awful lot of pants”
“That is how much the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad have paid over the last four years to customers who have torn clothing” on the armrests of their M7 trains. I’ve torn pants pockets on armrests that weren’t on M7 trains, but never thought to ask for compensation for something that was […]
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With your admission of having suffered from the defective design and manufacture of arm rests, you’ve probably enrolled yourself as a member of some class. I expect you’ll be getting one of those letters telling you so and giving you a chance to opt out.
I’ve torn pants pockets on armrests that weren’t on M7 trains…
The very pants you were going to return…
Those armrests really suck. I have torn pants on them but paid for the repair myself. Yet I know others who have sent the bill to the LIRR.
Ted, I think you are too hard on yourself. I have to believe that like most commuters, you’ve mastered the arts of seating yourself, remaining seated, and later rising from your seat in reasonable fashion, without displaying the kind of incompetence that would rise to the level of intervening cause.
The railroads are apparently paying many of these claims without the need for anyone to file in small claims court. I doubt that their claims-payment behavior is motivated by dread of runaway jury verdicts in torn pants cases. Could it be that the railroads recognize the existence of a design problem and are therefore being so gracious as to step up, more or less, to the plate?
The fact that I’ve never been on an M7 train in my adult life, but have torn pants pockets suggests to me that this is not an uncommon issue.
Is there a design problem? Almost certainly. But where? From personal experience, I was at great risk of damaging my clothing on an armrest in an office or airplane when I weighed over 300 pounds, and at no risk now that I weigh much less, and hadn’t thought about the problem in years until I read about it in the Times. Perhaps I should have had the chutzpah to suggest that it was the seat maker who should compensate me when my seat was so big that it was at risk for colliding with armrests unless I took special care to avoid the problem. The Times photo of the midsection of a pants victim also suggested someone who wouldn’t be having problems if he lost a few dozen pounds.
Hey, if LIRR thinks it’s good customer service to offer free pants to customers, good for them. As wastes of taxpayer money go, it’s a small one. And I concede that it would be a sensible matter for transport authorities to design seats that make it easier for office workers to sit in them. It was just a bloggable story where the most obvious answer was one not considered by the Times.