Sloped station platform causes wheelchair death in Tokyo
The Asahi Shimbun reports on the death of a wheelchair-bound elderly woman:
The woman fell from the platform at Tamagawa Station, of the Tokyu Toyoko Line in Ota Ward, on Sept. 13 and died the next day. Her chair began to roll down the platform after she and her daughter exited an elevator.
The daughter, 61, had just released the grip on the wheelchair to press a “close” button inside the lift so it would quickly return to pick up people waiting on the lower level.
The fatal fall has underscored a danger at heavily used public transportation facilities.
Experts warn that platforms can be dangerous not just for wheelchairs but baby buggies as well, because they are built with a slight slant to stop the pooling of rainwater.
Most stations have a slope of just 1% (a decline of 1 centimeter to a distance of 1 meter), but this particularly station, which has a history of similar accidents, had a slope of around 2.5%. Experts consulted for the article recommend that all stations with sloping platforms install some sort of safety barrier to prevent accidents.
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