Escalator Accident Attorney In Philadelphia

Escalators are practical transportation devices that help us travel from one floor to the next when carrying items such as bags and luggage, making them a great service for retail stores and airports. Although escalators can reduce the strain of climbing and going downstairs, they require powerful machinery to rotate the moving parts—making them pose a serious risk of injury to their riders.

Escalators can inflict serious injury to individuals if clothing or body parts become caught in the moving teeth of this machinery. These terrible physical injuries can lead to emotional trauma and often-costly hospital bills, placing the victim under even greater hardship.

Accidents on Escalators happen more frequently than you would hear about in the news. The injuries which result from escalator accidents range from cuts and bruises (for situations where the escalator stops while patrons are on it) to amputations of feet or even brain damage. These injuries can be life-altering.

A good Personal Injury Lawyer will be able to identify the manufacturer of the Escalator and any escalator maintenance company which may also be responsible for ill-preformed or neglected repairs.

The federal government has no codes either dealing with escalator and Elevator Deficiencies or mandating that the Escalator must be maintained. However, the teeth on the Escalator must be calibrated correctly, and protection devices must be located at the top and bottom of the machinery.

Specific Defect vs. General Malfunction

If an Escalator seriously injured you or a loved one because of a defect or general malfunction, the law in Pennsylvania requires you to produce evidence of these issues.  This requirement necessitates expert testimony. However, even if there is no way to prove a specific problem with the Escalator, the injured person may be able to prove that the escalator was defective anyway, simply because he or she did nothing personally to contribute to the incident. Both theories are viable at the same time.

Here is an example. Tommy is at the mall with his parents. Tommy is riding the escalator when his sneaker get caught at the top where you are supposed to step off. The escalator continues to operate, and Tommy loses all his toes on one foot.

If an expert comes and inspects the machine but cannot locate why it behaved the way it did, he can nevertheless testify that Tommy did not contribute to his injury. This would be enough for a jury to award him money, concluding that the escalator was defective simply because this incident happened without any fault from Tommy.

What are the different ways that you can get hurt on an escalator?

  • No warning
  • Falling from a sudden unexpected stop
  • Shoes and sandals getting stuck on the side
  • Failure to maintain the teeth and retraction of the stairs (Tommy’s case above)
  • Gaps in the parts that retract
  • Falling and or tripping

All in all, there is a 10 times greater chance of a person getting hurt while riding an Escalator than when riding an Elevator.

If you or someone you know has had an issue with an Escalator, whether serious or not, call The Law Offices of Greg Prosmushkin, P.C. The consultation is free, and in it, you will learn your rights under the law.