Georgia Injury Law Blog
Even after new safety standards were introduced and added to building codes in the country, children in Atlanta continue to be in danger of escalator injuries caused when their shoes or clothing get snagged in the gaps at the sides of the escalator.
A report last month highlights some of the most dangerous areas in Atlanta that have escalators concealing a high risk for accidents and injuries to children.These include Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (“MARTA”), as well as numerous malls where a number of these injuries occur every week. It’s not just children who have been at risk for injuries caused by escalators.Teenagers and adults have had their shoes and clothing snagged in the gaps.People have been dragged down when the edges of their coats were caught in these gaps, ending in a dislocation of the shoulder, and in other cases, have lost their balance and fallen over. Toes and feet have been badly mangled when their shoes have been caught in these gaps.
Many of these accidents have involved children’s shoes, especially Crocs. The problem has been severe enough for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to even warn about these, and confirm that these shoes had been worn by an overwhelming majority of people involved in escalator accidents.The shoes now come with a safety tag warning for such injuries.