A top Muni official demonstrated to NBC Bay Area what happens when you get your hand caught in the new Muni doors.
The agency’s new fleet is now under investigation by state regulators after an elderly woman got her fingers caught in the door of a departing train and was dragged onto the tracks as the train left.
In the demonstration at the Muni yard, acting transit director Julie Kirschbaum first put her fingers at the right side of the door of one of Muni’s new cars until the door closed onto them.
That right side is equipped with a bank of sensors that form a “sensitive edge” designed to trigger the door to immediately reopen on contact.
But during the demonstration, even though her fingers were caught as the door closed, the door remained closed on them.
The door eventually reopened, but the alarm designed to go off upon contact with the sensors never sounded.
Muni spokesman Paul Rose later said that was because the sensors were not operating as the train’s systems were not fully cycled up and functional when the first test occurred. He said because the sensors didn’t work, her hand became stuck and the door was opened with a manual override.
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But in a third test showing in the video, however, Kirschbaum did have to prod the paddle a little to get the sensor to activate and get the door to reopen.
