Escalator Accidents Increasing in the U.S.

In 2011, a four year-old boy was killed at the Auburn Mall in Massachusetts when an escalator’s guardrail pulled him through a gap between the escalator and a plexiglass divider, causing him to fall eighteen feet onto a display case. He passed away the next day in the hospital due to “blunt force trauma to the head.” Two years ago, the boy’s family reached a settlement with the escalator’s manufacturer as well as the owner of the store in which the accident occurred.

Many escalator accidents involve a fall, a young child, or both, according to the American Association for Justice, and most escalator injuries in the U.S. (which are on the rise each year) involve children or senior citizens. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) also claims that about two-thirds of these accidents involve not entrapment, but falls, and 21 of the 27 fatalities caused by escalators between 1985 and 1999 involved falls.

It is estimated that there are about eighteen escalator accidents for every one elevator accident, and these accidents have been on the rise in the U.S. for nearly twenty-five years. In 1990, there were about 4,900 injuries and fatalities in escalator accidents; in 2000, there were over 10,100; and in 2013 there were 12,260. Statistics also show that about six of every ten of these accidents involve children under 14 or senior citizens over 65, which of course is highly disproportionate to their presence in the general population.

Why, then, do we not hear more about these accidents when they affect so many people each year? The American Association for Justice claims that the industry itself has done a “stellar job” of deflecting blame onto the victims and avoiding harsh legal consequences and payouts, when in reality many of these escalators are indeed defectively designed or manufactured, improperly maintained, or a combination of these, and it is possible for affected families to earn the compensation they deserve. The Massachusetts case in which the boy’s family was compensated is just one example of how companies can be held legally liable for defective products which cause accidents and result in injury or death.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident due to a defective escalator, contact 844 See Mike for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury in an accident. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you.

Lastly, 844 See Mike is not paid attorneys’ fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.