ESCALATOR ACCIDENT

Escalators are also known as “moving stairs.”

Escalator accidents and injuries may be caused by faulty installation, failure to inspect, defective equipment or faulty maintenance.  Most escalator accidents and injuries involve falling or catching clothing or body parts into the “pinch point” where the moving stairway enters the under-the-floor recess area.

Escalator accidents can result in catastrophic injuries such as tearing off of skin, scarring, bone fractures, and amputations of fingers or toes. With small fingers and toes, children are especially vulnerable on escalators.

On July 2, 2010 a 4-year-old boy's finger was completely cut off by a wooden escalator at Macy’s main department store in Herald Square, New York City.  Young Maxlee Gell-Tejada, accompanied by his mother and father, dropped a bottle of water by the bottom of the wooden first-floor escalator and reached down to pick it up. A sharp edge of the escalator sliced through his right pinky finger.  The finger was packed in ice and rushed with the child to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital.  Doctors at Bellevue Hospital could not reattach the child’s pinky.

Macy's has been issued a citation by the New York City Building Department  and the escalator accident is being investigated by authorities.  Since 2008, the Herald Square location has been cited for dangerous razor sharp steps, worn out chains, tripping hazards and even failing to report an escalator accident. Inspectors have also hit the Queens Center Mall for failing to report an accident along with broken steps and worn rollers.

In October of 2005, a four-year-old girl lost her index finger when she fell at the top of the third floor escalator, and a two-year-old boy nearly lost his left thumb, which was partially severed in December of 2006. Macy’s wooden escalators have been in service since 1927 and are among the last of their kind in New York City.  Many people think that it’s time to replace them.

Recently, many children have been injured on escalators while wearing a plastic-like shoe known as Crocs. The Crocs shoe may become trapped and sucked into the escalator – causing an escalator accident – when the rider is stepping on or off the escalator or standing too close to one side or the other.  To see my blog entitled “The Croc Bites (a products liability lawsuit follows)” and read about the lawsuit by the parents of a little girl wearing Crocs whose toe was mangled in an escalator by clicking her, click here.  In my blog, I pointed out that the flexibility of the Croc, combined with a child’s small foot size and the fact that kids just don’t stand still on escalators and rarely watch where they put their feet, means that a moment of distraction can lead to tragedy.

Not all escalator accidents involve children or small hands and feet.  Escalators can malfunction not just in department stores, but in airports and construction work sites and even in stadiums where professional sports are played.  You may recall in December 2007 an escalator malfunctioned at New York Giants Stadium, injuring seven people, some of whom fell off the escalator.  Several escalator accident victims suffered injuries to their legs and feet, including one or more broken bones or fractures.  For more information, see my blog post about this escalator accident case by clicking here.

For your serious personal injury, you need serious legal representation from a qualified personal injury attorney. You need the Law Offices of Gary E. Rosenberg, P.C.! Contact us for your free, initial consultation.

Law Offices of Gary E. Rosenberg, P.C.

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