Watch Your Step

Cornell University's attempt to improve its campus transportation system has ended up being a pain in the neck for Pat Carlson-Molan, an administrative aide in the Peace Studies Program.

Carlson-Molan fractured a vertebra last month when she fell off the rear door of a new campus shuttle bus.

According to her husband, Peter D. Molan, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell, "Each step itself is not big enough for a foot and the drop between steps is very steep."

William Crissey, manager of the Cornell Campus Bus System, said that "because of the growing concern, the bus company has added a second grab-rail to the back steps and has instructed all drivers to warn passengers of potential hazards.

He added that "95 percent of the problem is the mere fact that the new steps are different from the steps on the old buses and that people must just get used them."

Crissey added that the busses used the Campus Bus System are fully proved by the New York Department Transportation, and that no other serious accidents have been reported.

He added that all the complaints his office has received have come from women, who supposedly "do not the proper footwear for riding buses.

Molan said he has "considered litigation, but would not want to sue the university." He added that he may take matter to court, "perhaps as a means addressing a public safety problem.