As someone who has attended multiple peaceful protests in multiple different cities and parts of the country, and who has ridden on mass transit in NYC, Boston and other cities in the US… and who likes to bicycle I can emphatically say that people driving cars are not only by far the most physically dangerous people you encounter but they are also by any practical measure the closest to resorting to violence, anger and brute forward momentum to solve a confrontation.
People in cars scare me, they paradoxically are more often prone to lashing out in fear and the chance a car has a weapon in it is far greater than the chance a random pedestrian is armed on their person.
To add to this, a person with a car is also inherently armed due to the ability to use a car as a weapon.
I’ll chime in:
As a Chinese American, hearing about random Chinese people getting shoved into NYC subway tracks makes me afraid of public transit.
Like where the platform safety barriers at?
As a fellow Chinese American, I have heard of cases of such hate crimes (which seemed more severe during the height of COVID times), though I recognize that instances of this are much fewer than instances of speeding, running red lights, improper turns, ignoring pedestrians and cyclists, road rage, and more, that drivers bring to the roads. (Also, like @[email protected] mentioned, the perpetrator was arrested: https://nwasianweekly.com/2025/10/man-arrested-in-series-of-anti-asian-assaults-in-new-york/ .)
One need not be actively targeted to be harmed by others doing wrong – as a cyclist and pedestrian I’ve literally seen drivers waiting to turn right never looking at me when I approach from the right, and as a driver, I also found myself making this same mistake and barely missing a pedestrian whom I only saw at the last moment. None of this was targeted violence. It is a hazard born from the design of our roads and our laws and the way we end up doing things given our situations, poor design and policymaking leaves us as individuals (including but not limited to drivers) needing to deal with these things.
That said, you make a very good point – platform safety barriers are much needed feature at subway (and similar) stations. Modern stations are built with these, and they not only help with safety but can (especially for air-conditioned spaces) also save money on energy costs while making for a more pleasant rider experience. The YouTube channel NotJustBikes covers these aspects as part of a larger video covering the Seoul Metro system; here’s a timestamped link to the relevant part of the video: https://youtu.be/aLKN_Rmb39I?t=230
I would love to see older metro stations/systems like NYC and Washington DC be retrofitted with these things. The edges of subway platforms are definitely a dangerous area, with people potentially falling off by accident, being pushed off by others (by accident or malicious intention), or even attempting self-harm. Even for people who aren’t trying to fall off, it can still be a bit anxiety-inducing. So having these physical barriers would be pretty awesome. Thanks for highlighting this.
Edit: Also, even half-height barriers can help. Not for air conditioning, but can help safety and comfort (less wind against passengers) and also prevent some amount of litter. I actually happened to visit China last year and saw both full-height barriers (most stations) and half-height barriers (e.g. the famous Liziba Station in Chongqing), but as NJB’s video mentions, these are pretty standard for newer metro systems around the world. Just that retrofitting can be something of a pain.
I wasn’t familiar with those incidents, but as far as I can tell they were carried out by two people with pretty severe untreated mental illness, and both were caught and arrested.
I wouldn’t let a handful of incidents turn you off the entire concept, especially as statistically, you are far more likely to experience a negative scenario such as being a victim of road rage or a harmful car accident in a car, in comparison to public transport.
No victim blaming, but why do people stand so close to dangerous places anyways? I’m always at least a couple of meters away from tracks before a train comes, only moving in once it has driven in. It’s also less scary for the conductor as well…
It’s a bit anxiety-inducing and there’s that blast of wind which not everyone likes. Like they said, platform barriers would be a good solution to this.
