Brazilian Tourist Awarded $82 Million After Losing Limbs in New York Subway Accident: MTA Safety Failures Exposed

A Brooklyn federal jury has awarded nearly $82 million to Luisa Janssen Harger Da Silva, a 29-year-old Brazilian student tourist who suffered catastrophic injuries in a 2016 subway accident.

While visiting New York City with her boyfriend at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station, Da Silva fainted and fell onto the tracks. An approaching train struck her, resulting in the amputation of her left arm and left leg.

Da Silva's legal team successfully argued that the MTA had possessed 15 years of data documenting incidents of people falling onto tracks, yet failed to implement crucial safety measures such as platform edge barriers. "The failure to act in the face of a known, preventable hazard is the definition of negligence," stated her attorney, David Roth.

The jury ruled in favor of Da Silva, who was 21 at the time of the accident, granting her compensation of nearly $82 million. The MTA has since filed an appeal, contesting the verdict and requesting review by a higher court, according to The NY Post.

Court documents revealed that the MTA had received proposals to install platform doors at no cost as early as 2011.

"Several of those companies, the largest in the world, submitted detailed plans showing they could overcome every engineering challenge and install platform screen doors system-wide," explained Bob Genis, another of Da Silva's attorneys.

Major companies including Faiveley Transport had provided comprehensive plans demonstrating the feasibility of installing such doors despite New York's complex subway infrastructure. The MTA even described one proposal as "impressive." Nevertheless, no further study or implementation occurred, and according to Genis, the MTA "walked away" from the free offer.

Tim Minton, an MTA representative, stated they cannot account for decisions made many years prior, noting that the MTA has since installed some form of platform barriers at 109 stations. During the trial, the MTA contended that the 2011 free platform-door proposal wasn't fully validated at that time.

Minton further explained that installing platform doors at most stations would be impractical due to physical feasibility and accessibility constraints.

According to MTA data, 241 people were struck by trains across New York City in 2023.