David Blunkett incident at Westminster

[rebmcr]

As reported by BBC News:

Lord Blunkett injured after falling through gap on Tube

The Labour Peer, who is blind is urging Transport for London to do more for visually impaired people.

www.bbc.co.uk

Lord Blunkett injured in Tube platform gap fall

Lord Blunkett has called for an urgent review into what he described as "death trap" Tube platforms after he was injured falling into a gap as he boarded a train at Westminster station.

It happened as the Labour Peer, who is blind, slipped while getting on to a District line train with his guide dog, last month. He wants Transport for London (TfL) to do more to ensure visually impaired people are kept safe.

"I didn't fully know what had happened. I felt enormous pain in both my legs; they were bruised and grazed," the 77-year-old former home secretary and health secretary wrote in the Sun on Sunday., external

London Underground said it was "extremely sorry" that Lord Blunkett was injured and will be meeting with him to ensure that lessons are learned from the incident.

Lord Blunkett, who served as the MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough between 1987 and 2015, said: "As I took a step to get on to the Tube train I suddenly felt both my feet disappearing down the gap.

"In an instant my body had been propelled forward into the carriage and I was face down on the floor,"

"My legs had somehow been scraped out of the gap and into the carriage."

The fall comes after Lord Blunkett had a recent heart attack which means he must take blood thinners - making any bruising or bleeding more dangerous.

He explained that an X-ray confirmed "extraordinary bruising", but no broken leg, and he was "angry" about what had happened.

Lord Blunkett said: "Whenever you step into a Tube station in London you hear the tannoy warn people to 'mind the gap'. But too often there are no staff members to actually help you if, like me, you cannot see."

He is calling for TfL to fill the widest gaps on platforms and make sure there is always someone there to help, especially during rush hour.

He added "some of our platforms are death traps. The gap between the walkway and train is huge and they are unsafe for everyone, but particularly for blind people."

Lord Blunkett is expected to request TfL launch an urgent review into the safety of the busiest tube stations.

Nick Dent, London Underground's director of customer operations, said: "We were extremely sorry that Lord Blunkett was injured on our network.

"We have written to, and will be meeting with, him to discuss how we could have managed the incident better and to ensure that lessons are learned.

"The safety of our customers and staff is at the forefront of everything we do, and while injuries like the one experienced by Lord Blunkett are rare, we are undertaking a huge range of work aimed at eradicating such incidents and making travelling even safer for everyone."

The headline immediately made me think of the Central line platforms at Bank; the Bakerloo at Waterloo; or the Northern at Embankment.

However, the District at Westminster is, I believe, practically gapless — this, paired with his description (paraphrased) of "I don't know what happened but my legs ended up inside the carriage" makes me think it's highly plausible he just tripped and fell, and that there is no real connection to a platform-train gap in this instance.

Though if this ill-founded blame serves to improve the prospect of having ACTUAL gaps dealt with, I suppose that's a good thing.

 

[Egg Centric]

However, the District at Westminster is, I believe, practically gapless — this, paired with his description (paraphrased) of "I don't know what happened but my legs ended up inside the carriage" makes me think it's highly plausible he just tripped and fell, and that there is no real connection to a platform-train gap in this instance.

You're right of course. But without sounding insensitive - how can he truely know that the way those of us who can see do? I fully understand why, jaded by experience, he may think otherwise.

Had this happened when he was still Home Secretary it might have been a "teaching moment" that could have prevented some of the things he did but way too late for that now, so he deserves nowt but sympathy.

 

[DGP]

Firstly, I'm glad that David Blunkett has not suffered any major injuries from this incident and I do wish him well but I do get irritated when people in general suddenly discover an "issue" and declare that "something must be done" (and normally be someone else) without first trying to discover what are the circumstances and history that led to that issue occurring, without trying to understand what exactly could be done or what actually is being done and without trying to understand just how expensive, disruptive and how much time it would take to do anything that would really address the issue.

 

[TUC]

You're right of course. But without sounding insensitive - how can he truely know that the way those of us who can see do?

As someone whose wife is blind and a guide dog owner, I'd say the opposite. How can those who can see truly appreciate just how difficult and scary it is to step off a train not quite knowing how big the gap is? In my wife's case, whilst she hasn't fallen down the gap, her dog did on one occasion.

Of course I recognise the history and reasons why such gaps occur, but some of the reaction to it(reading comments elsewhere) seems to fail to understand how hard people like my wife work at leading independent lives, and how a recognition of what a difference at least seeking to mitigate issues like this would make.

 

[Egg Centric]

As someone whose wife is blind and a guide dog owner, I'd say the opposite. How can those who can see truly appreciate just how difficult and scary it is to step off a train not quite knowing how big the gap is? In my wife's case, whilst she hasn't fallen down the gap, her dog did on one occasion.

Of course I recognise the history and reasons why such gaps occur, but some of the reaction to it(reading comments elsewhere) seems to fail to understand how hard people like my wife work at leading independent lives, and how a recognition of what a difference at least seeking to mitigate issues like this would make.

@TUC you put that brilliantly. I wish I'd expressed it better and I've also learned from this. Best wishes to your wife and you can tell her an internet stranger says she's got a great defender of a hubby

 

[rebmcr]

As someone whose wife is blind and a guide dog owner, I'd say the opposite. How can those who can see truly appreciate just how difficult and scary it is to step off a train not quite knowing how big the gap is? In my wife's case, whilst she hasn't fallen down the gap, her dog did on one occasion.

Of course I recognise the history and reasons why such gaps occur, but some of the reaction to it(reading comments elsewhere) seems to fail to understand how hard people like my wife work at leading independent lives, and how a recognition of what a difference at least seeking to mitigate issues like this would make.

For this reason, reporting accurately that "people with vision dfficulties can be in danger even on perfect platforms" would have been a much better message than blaming a nonexistent 'gap'.

 

[TUC]

For this reason, reporting accurately that "people with vision dfficulties can be in danger even on perfect platforms" would have been a much better message than blaming a nonexistent 'gap'.

I don't understand the point you're making. Gaps do exist on platforms, and my wife is comfortable using platforms independently when she knows the station and that there is unlikely to be a gap in that location.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Nov 2024 ==

@TUC you put that brilliantly. I wish I'd expressed it better and I've also learned from this. Best wishes to your wife and you can tell her an internet stranger says she's got a great defender of a hubby

Thank you

 

[norbitonflyer]

However, the District at Westminster is, I believe, practically gapless —

(Picture shows "Mind the Gap" markings on the curved District Line platform edge at Westminster)

 

[Dr Hoo]

I happened to to use Westminster on the District Line Westbound (concave) this morning. Obviously the ‘gap’ varies between the ‘centre’ and ‘end’ doors. With my late father having been a blind user of public transport I am very sorry to learn that Lord Blunkett fell down the gap. (Things may be even worse on the opposite platform.)

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Still scary whichever way you look at it for someone who is vision impaired. I for one am glad that society in general seems to be improving, albeit slowly, in this regard.

 

[rebmcr]

I happened to to use Westminster on the District Line Westbound (concave) this morning. Obviously the ‘gap’ varies between the ‘centre’ and ‘end’ doors. With my late father having been a blind user of public transport I am very sorry to learn that Lord Blunkett fell down the gap. (Things may be even worse on the opposite platform.)

My memory chimed much more strrongly with the second photo (featuring the green coat), so thanks for correcting my assumption. I happily withdraw my doubts about his account of the incident.

 

[Falcon1200]

A horrible incident for Lord Blunkett, thankfully he seems to be OK. But, with curved platforms and, on the Underground, trains stopping for the minimum possible time, is it practical to eliminate, or greatly reduce, the gap between train and platform?

 

[TUC]

A horrible incident for Lord Blunkett, thankfully he seems to be OK. But, with curved platforms and, on the Underground, trains stopping for the minimum possible time, is it practical to eliminate, or greatly reduce, the gap between train and platform?

There are relatively simple interventions that could help. For example, textured paving on the route between the platform entrance and wherever on the platform the gap is likely to be smallest would enable visually impaired people to find that spot (Of course, there is no guarantee that the carriage they board will also correspond to the smallest gap at the station where they disembark, but it would at least help with one side of the problem.)

 

[philthetube]

I don't know if this would affect Lord Blunket and his dog but there has been an increase if people falling into gaps since the arrival of S Stock and level boarding, people see a step and take care, they appear nor to see a gap in the same way. I have no idea how a dog reacts to a gap so do not know if this is relevant to the thread.

 

[Horizon22]

There are relatively simple interventions that could help. For example, textured paving on the route between the platform entrance and wherever on the platform the gap is likely to be smallest would enable visually impaired people to find that spot (Of course, there is no guarantee that the carriage they board will also correspond to the smallest gap at the station where they disembark, but it would at least help with one side of the problem.)

Do the images below not show that with the horizontal textured paving lines and also the blister paving (there does appear to be less on the 1st photo). Also large and luminous mind the gap signs.

Obviously I am glad there is no serious injury here but if this wasn’t a Lord I doubt this would have been a news article and the mitigations would meet the “as low as reasonably practicable” threshold.

 

[philthetube]

Had David Blunket asked he would have been escorted onto a train and been met by staff at the other end.