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Escalators’ hidden dangers

December 8, 2008

As little Caprice Robinson stepped onto the escalator at the Kensington MARTA station east of Decatur this summer, she gripped her mom’s hand, as she had many times before. Within seconds, Caprice, then almost 3 years old, began screaming in pain.

 

The spongy pink shoe on her right foot, a knock-off of the popular Crocs, was being sucked into the gap at the side of the moving metal stairs, records show. They rode nearly to the bottom, screaming for help, before the escalator stopped. Fire Department rescuers had to pry the metal stairs apart to release Caprice’s mangled foot.

 

Several times a week people are injured on metro Atlanta escalators, reports to Georgia regulators show. While only a handful of local cases each year involve disfiguring entrapments such as what happened to Caprice, dozens of metro Atlanta escalator riders suffer serious injuries when they fall on the machinery or get cut on sharp edges, or when their clothing or luggage becomes entangled.

 

“Most of it is actually rider-related. There’s not much equipment failure at all,” said Earl Everett, director of safety engineering at the Georgia Department of Labor, which licenses and inspects escalators and moving walkways.

 

Read Article: Atlanta Journal Constitution

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

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