How Not to Be an A-Hole on the Beijing Subway

A cell phone-ogling passenger that was injured on Beijing's Line 2 last year and who later successfully sued the Beijing Subway for RMB 110,000 in damages, has lost on appeal, only putting the subway system out of RMB 56,000.

The train was speeding along on Line 2 on the morning of January 14, 2015 when suddenly, between Dongzhimen and Yonghegong stations, it was forced to hit the brakes because of signal problems, causing the one passenger to fall.

Surveillance footage (shown in this Beijing News report), shows the passenger was staring at her phone before the emergency stop, and had not been holding one of the subway's rails or handles. Apparently she was the only passenger in the crowded subway car that fell.

The passenger suffered injuries to her nose, eye socket, and neck and sued Beijing Subway RMB 240,000, though was only granted RMB 110,000 in damages. With their new appeal, the subway company now only has to pay RMB 56,000, according to news reports.

We're not exactly sure how the court does their math, but in their ruling they said that the subway should only hold 40 percent of the responsibility, while the passenger should hold 60 percent, because the subway sufficiently warns passengers about safety and the risk of not holding on is ever-present.

We responsible subway passengers, of course, are eager to avoid such courtroom drama with major transit companies, not to mention the literal headache from such injuries (or spending time in a Chinese court).

So without further ado, here are some common sense tactics we can all use to stay safe on the subway:

1. For God's sake, hold on. Yeah we know you're bored and you want to use your phone. There's plenty of ways you can entertain yourself with only one hand so you can use the other to hold one of the subway's many dangling handles. Listen to music or a podcast for one.

2. Don't text or read while you're moving from one place to the other. The Beijing Subway has been the scene of more than one stampeding incident, and most of them are sparked by mass hysteria more than anything. 99.99 percent of the time crowds move rationally; it only takes one yokel to not know what they're doing, stumble and cause a chain reaction. We know you're itching to send a text, but surely that can wait until you are stationary.

3. And don't stop dead or abruptly reverse course, either. Stopping to take a photo of yourself is a great way for someone to run into the back of you as they're rushing to get on a train. It's best to avoid this all too common habit while moving underground. Again, save the selfie until you've gotten out of the stream of moving commuters.

4. Rise above the shoving. Even if you're worried about being late for work, there's really is no need to force yourself onto an already jam-packed carriage during rush hour. Keep in mind that this is a subway station, not a KHL game, and that you are by no means as formidable as a Kazakh hockey player facing off against his Beijing opponents. It won't be a sporting triumph- instead you're the one that will likely to end up clobbered.

5. Crawl along the wall. Sticking to the outer edges of the foot traffic while making a transfer, so that you're next to the wall, can be a great way to keep your balance during the transit frenzy and avoid tripping, falling, and being trampled by the onslaught of fellow passengers.

6. Beware of luggage luggers. If you see fellow passengers lugging massive amounts of luggage, keep away. Their bags will obstruct their view, and their big carry-on luggage will leave you even more bruised than a typical shovy, elbowy trip on the tube for your morning commute.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
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Photo: sinoquebec.com