Metro-North crew members never called cops or other emergency personnel when they struck what turned out to be a woman in Connecticut on Dec. 26 — failing to follow common-sense safety guidelines, a US senator charged.
The Dec. 26 incident came less than a month after a deadly Bronx derailment, when an operator blew through speed limit reduction because he fell asleep.
“Basic-safety common sense should require reporting to the MTA police and local authority, including emergency responders, when a train hits a human being or anything like it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who sent a letter Thursday to agency boss Tom Prendergast.
Blumemthal later told The Post that “the conductor and operator stopped the train, took a look around and went on its way, which is astonishing and appalling.”
Annette White, 46, of Maine, was hit on a bridge while trying to reach the Saugatuck station and fell into the river, according to the authorities.
The crew thought the train had hit something, but didn’t realize it was a person. White was wearing dark clothing in the foggy evening, according to an MTA spokeswoman.
The train and tracks were inspected for 20 minutes during an emergency stop, but the crew couldn’t find anything.
They did not tell MTA Police or local authorities, just a controller.
Under current Metro-North policy, police are told only if a crew thinks a person may have been hit.
A duck hunter discovered White’s body the next day.
Hartford police learned she may have been hit by a train when a passenger read about her death, and told officials there was an emergency stop on his train on Thursday, according to a spokesman.