Escalator Safety Petition to the CPSC;
One Family's Nightmare . . .

Escalator Safety: The following is a petition sent to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) by Scott and Diana Anderson concerning the dangers of escalators and an incident involving their four-year-old son.

If you are reading this because you or a loved one has been in an elevator or escalator accident, contact our experienced escalator and elevator accident lawyers.

Use this FREE case evaluator to see if you have a lawsuit.

After petitioning the assistance of God our Father, we, the undersigned, formally petition the Consumer Products Safety Commission as outlined in Section 10 of the Consumer Products Safety Act, to commence a proceeding, together with an investigation which will lead to the issuance of a Consumer Product Safety Rule to insure greater safety for persons of all ages on escalators; particularly our children.

There is an injustice that has been taking place in communities around the country for too long. That injustice is the inherent danger of escalators and how they are harming our children.

On Saturday, February 17, 1996, our little four-year-old boy, Scooter, was injured in an escalator accident. He and his father had gone to his office to pick up some information. As they were leaving, they got on the down escalator to exit through the tunnel to the parking garage. Scooter was on the same escalator step as his daddy and was holding on to the rail when his foot became entrapped between the sidewall and the step. Fortunately his daddy was able to pull his foot out of his tennis shoe. We have since learned that it is a very common injury to children. As they ride down the escalator, their tennis shoes rub against the metal sidewall causing the rubber to soften and slip into the gap. In Scooter's case, the impact of the machine pulverized half of the big toe and he lost his second and third toes instantly. The bottom of his foot was completely sliced back. After the second surgery, the big toe was amputated and skin was taken from his hip and used for grafting. His foot was sewn back together with over one hundred stitches. After seven surgeries, we are thankful he has a foot. After months in a wheelchair, walker and several walking casts, we are thankful he can walk. As the parents of a child who has been injured, we are committed to educating the general public of the inherent dangers of escalators.

The first week our son was in the hospital we were furnished with a news article outlining how often entrapment accidents occur to children (Exhibit "A"). We later requested the Consumer Products Safety Commission's most recent injury statistics (Exhibit "B"). We were appalled to learn that 1200 children under the age of 5 years were the victims of escalator accidents and approximately 500 of those children suffered side entrapment injuries. These numbers are the annual average for 1990-1994. Through further investigation, we found the CPSC was petitioned to review escala- tor safety in 1978 (Exhibit "C"). In the CPSC's denial of that petition (Exhibit "D"), it claimed that 125 accidents associated with escalators had been reported between January 1, 1977, and May 31, 1978. At that time there were approximately 18,000 esca- lators operating in the United States. Currently there are approximately 30,000 escalators operating nationally, and the CPSC reports 5900 accidents annually. That is almost 30,000 accidents over a five-year period, and a 5000% increase in injuries over the 1977 injury report. These numbers alone should be cause enough for the Commission to develop mandatory safety standards for escalators, but there is more injustice in these numbers. Of the 5900 accidents annually, over a third of the victims are children under the age of 15. These children make up over a third of the victims, yet they represent less than 10% of the riders on escalators. These statistics are outrageous and show that escalators, as they are presently designed and/or governed by safety codes, do present an unreasonable risk of injury to children. The escalator industry has shown itself to be a poor watchdog as indicated by these sky-rocketing number of annual injuries. The CPSC must adopt mandatory safety standards instead of allowing the escalator industry to set their own voluntary standards.

As stated in the Boston Globe article (Exhibit "E") dated Sunday, July 21, 1996: Page 3A, "the Consumer Products Safety Commission reversed its long-standing position and has determined that esca- lators pose a special threat to children. The USCPC concluded that escalators can be made less hazardous to children with the addition of safety devices that have been on the market, but were never before required." The article claims that the Consumer Products Safety Commission wrote in a July, 1996, letter to the chairman of the committee that sets the national escalator safety code, that "ALL of the information suggests that regular occurrences of entrapment, particularly of the legs and feet of small children, can be almost completely eliminated by the installation of after-market safety devices."

In conclusion, we agree completely with the CPSC's position stated in the Boston Globe on their concerns with escalator safety. We hope that our petitioning the CPSC will push the agency forward and cause real changes to take place with regard to:

1. design --more specifically closing the gap between the moving stair and the sidewall;
2. notifying the public how dangerous escalators can be and what type of accidents can occur while riding one;
3. creating better warning signs that will educate and inform riders.

We are a well-educated couple forced to learn of escalator entrapment injuries from stark reality. Please grant this petition so that other parents will not get educated the same way we were.

Respectfully submitted,

Diana Anderson
Scott Anderson

See this and related documents in pdf form here.

Click To Talk To Us Online

see also:

Escalator News & Warnings Escalator Accident Attorney - Escalator Accident News
Recent escalator accident news highlights pedestrian dangers.

Breaking Elevator Accident News Elevator accidents in the news: Breaking news stories
Want to keep current about elevator accidents? Get breaking news here

News & Warnings Escalator Accident Lawyers - Escalator Safety
Escalator Accident Lawyers - We want you to be safe riding escalators.