[nagdu] TransLink vs. Thompson - differing views on guide dog Palm's Skytrain accident

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TransLink vs. Thompson - differing views on guide dog Palm's
Skytrain accident
 By Kim Pemberton 20 Oct 2010 COMMENTS(0) Puppy Love  
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/puppylove/archiv
e/2010/10/20/translink-vs-thompson-differing-views-on-guide-dog-p
alm-s-skytrain-accident.aspx
TransLink and the owner of Palm, the guide dog who was seriously
injured after being dragged by a train at the Lougheed SkyTrain
station, have a different view of what transpired after the
accident, in what appears to me to have been a miscommunication
that could have easily been fixed at the beginning of this sorry
saga.
 
Iris Thompson, who is blind, is home now caring for a traumatized
Palm who likely will never be able to work again as a guide dog.
Palm suffered a punctured lung, fractured ribs and broken muzzle
in the Sept. 30 accident. According to her owner  "she's really
sore and nervous" and likely won't be able to work. Thompson
added she wouldn't want to upset the dog by taking her on a
SkyTrain again. (You can read my story here to get further
background). In the meantime, Iris has to rely on family and
friends to get around, as well as taking taxis and uses her white
cane. In B.C. there's a one to two year wait  to receive a guide
dog, but Thompson has not yet made the decision whether to go
ahead and apply.
 
In my last post I interviewed Thompson about the accident and
learned she has still not been able to speak directly with a
TransLink official to give her statement. She wanted to talk
directly with a TransLink investigator about whether the SkyTrain
is safe for other guide dog users and young children, after the
sensors that should automatically caused the doors to reopen did
not do so, trapping Palm outside the platform.
 
Just on the issue of the sensors, TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie
said while they are "calibrated to detect relatively small
things, such as a child's hand it is doubtful they could ever be
set up to detect something as thin and light as a dog's leash."
 
Regarding the lack of an official statement being taken from
Thompson, Hardie insists she was contacted by TransLink to give
her statement.  He said TransLink's claims department contracted
with an independent insurance adjuster to take the statement but
Thompson cancelled that appointment. 
 
"I'm not going to get into a he said, she said scenario but
you've gone with blog items we believe are not accurate," said
Hardie. "At the end of it all we've been in touch with her and
made every attempt to get her statement...a claims adjuster set
up an appointment with her on Friday and Iris called it off."
 
So in the interest of fairness, I contacted both sides again to
fully understand the issue. Thompson told me she cancelled the
insurance adjuster's appointment because she was not interested
in making a claim against TransLink at the time. She added it was
her, not TransLink, who made the first communication attempt
between the two sides. The day after the accident Thompson said
she called TransLink to try to find the right person to speak
with about the accident  regarding safety concerns, but she was
passed through to the claims department. That's not who she
wanted to talk with, she said.
 
"I wasn't interested at that time in starting a claim. I even
told Ken Hardie that and he said we assumed that's what you
wanted to do," said Thompson, adding she didn't trust Hardie
after she heard him make an incorrect comment to the media
immediately after Palm's accident, by saying this was the first
time an accident of its kind had ever happened on the SkyTrain
since it began in 1886.
 
"I didn't want to say too much to him from what he said on the
news, implying it never happened before but it had happened
before," said Thompson, who had been contacted by another guide
dog user whose dog was dragged 20 feet by a SkyTrain in 1996
after the doors shut on its leash as well trapping the dog
outside of the train apart from its owner. That dog suffered a
dislocated hip in the earlier accident at Broadway station.
 
"I cancelled the appointment (with the insurance adjuster because
I didn't even know what she was coming out for. Palm was still in
the vet and I wasn't sure how she was doing...I didn't know what
to do. If someone from (SkyTrain or TransLInk) safety office
called I would have met with them but not the insurance
adjudicator. I said that to Ken Hardie."
 
Hardie told me that it was the job of the insurance adjuster to
get the official statement, which would have been shared with the
SkyTrain investigators.
 
"The claims adjuster is there to take her statement. There's
really no TransLink investigation per se. There would have been
an internal investigation by SkyTrain right from the president to
the general manager and the safety officer. But there was ample
video evidence to show us exactly what happened," said Hardie.
 
So if TransLink didn't need to take a statement directly from
Thompson for the purpose of the internal investigation, which in
itself I find surprising, why not relay that information directly
to Thompson?
 
"If Iris wanted to (talk to the safety officer investigating the
accident) she could have asked," said Hardie.
 
But Thompson pointed out  that wasn't fair considering "I don't
know their titles."
 
"Right after the accident no one initially called me. I called
them. Not to make a claim but just to say what happened," said
Thompson.
 
Hardie said he had two conversations with Thompson and the
purpose of his first call was to "offer condolences for the poor
dog." 
 
Hardie also wanted to clarify some other issues in my earlier
posts. He said the SkyTrain was not crowded at the time. "When
the train arrived six people exited through the door, then Ms.
Thompson and two or three other people boarded."
 
"I know that because I saw the video. As a non-sighted individual
Iris might have had a different version of that," he said.
 
So I asked Thompson  and she said while it wasn't rush hour
crowds there "were definitely people there and enough where there
wasn't enough seats on the right (hand side). It felt around for
a few (seats) and when I tried on the other side, the left,
that's when the doors closed (with Palm having stepped backwards
onto the platform)."
 
Another issue Hardie felt was inaccurate on my part, was stating
TransLink did not pay for any of the nearly $15,000 veterinary
costs.
 
"Donations have all but covered the vet bill and some of our
TransLink staff contributed," he said.
 
But I pointed out to Hardie  that is not the same thing as the
organization paying for the costs and these staff donations could
hardly be seen as TransLink making the vet payment.
 
"Unfortunately, when we have these situations there's the issue
of litigation and liability. If TransLink was liable we would
have paid. There are legal perils involved in that," he said.
 
I'm sure readers will have their own opinions on the TransLink
vs. Thompson matter, in what just might end up in court if
Thompson does indeed decide to press ahead and speak with a
lawyer.  In my earlier interview with Thompson she said she feels
she has to seriously consider this route to ensure what happened
to Palm is not forgotten and improvements are made to ensure
SkyTrain is safe for other commuters.,