If you've spent any time on the NYC subway, you've noticed the little cord with the red handle hanging from the ceiling in the back of each car: the emergency cord (brake). Only to be used in case of an emergency!
Well, posted under or at least nearby the dangling cord is a sign listing possible emergencies- Police Activity, Fire, Sick or Injured Passenger... following each however, is the phrase- DO NOT PULL EMERGENCY CORD. Which makes me wonder, in what case is it in fact okay to use it? Earthquake? Flash flood? Godzilla attack (or any others beast of mythic proportions)? It seems though in those cases the trauma would be such as to make the train derail, rendering the emergency brake moot.
So when do you use it? And if the answer is never-- why is it in every car on every train, out in the wide open where anyone could pull it? At any time? It's not even behind glass or anything, like they do with fire extinguishers- so as to ward off the riff-raff. So what's the deal? To pull or not to pull?
1 comment:
i kind of like knowing it's there... just in case. but if a real emergency ever happened, i highly doubt i would remember it's there.
so thank you, jay, for this reminder!
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