dead man's handle

English

Noun

dead man's handle (plural dead man's handles)

1. (rail transport) A lever used as a safety device, typically on trains, which shuts off power if the operator releases their grip.

   Synonym: dead man's switch

   • 1947 March and April, “Swiss High-Speed Electric Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 94:

     Dead-man's handle, automatic train stop, quick-acting compressed-air brake specially suited for high-speed working, and regenerative braking are among the features of the new locomotives.

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 103–104:

     There were two engine men in case one of them fainted or died, the 'dead man's handle' of the later Tubes (a fail-safe device that stops the train if the driver does not maintain manual pressure on a lever) not having been perfected.

Translations

safety device on trains — see also dead man's switch

• French: VACMA f, homme-mort (fr)

References

• “dead man's handle”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “dead man's handle”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.