SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A lawsuit was filed against Bay Area Rapid Transit after a 19-year-old man died while riding a train in San Francisco.
The teenager, Daniel Baran, climbed out of a BART train through a gap and attempted to ride on top for a stunt that daredevils call “train surfing,” according to reports. The incident happened on January 28, 2024 near Balboa Park station. Baran suffered fatal injuries when he fell onto the tracks below.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco Superior Court states, “Before Daniel’s death, riders had used spacers to climb to the top of BART trains, a practice called ‘train surfing.’ The spacers allowed and encouraged riders to contact the train’s exterior, and to climb the spacers to the train’s roof.”
Daniel Baran was a Lowell High School graduate and he was enrolled at Skyline College leading up to his sudden death, the San Francisco Standard reported.
To keep passengers from reaching the exteriors of trains, the lawsuit claims that BART trains should have monitors, sensors, or alarms that activate in spacers. Trains should also have an emergency mechanism that slows down and stops trains if any passengers open a door or reach the train’s exterior while it is moving, the suit claims.
“The train operator knew or should have known about train surfing. They also knew or should have known of the extraordinary danger and high risk of serious injury or death associated with allowing train occupants to contact the exterior of trains while they were moving,” the lawsuit states.
The victim’s parents accused the transit agency and BART train operators of negligence that caused their son’s death. “BART created a situation of peril,” the suit states.
A spokesperson for BART declined to comment on the lawsuit this week.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A lawsuit was filed against Bay Area Rapid Transit after a 19-year-old man died while riding a train in San Francisco. The teenager, Daniel Baran, climbed out of a BART train through a gap and attempted to ride on top for a stunt that daredevils call “train surfing,” according to reports. […]
Leave a Reply