Escalators, Footwear, and Severe Foot Injuries

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, over a
period of five years there were 53 reports of escalator
footwear mishaps and Crocs were named in four injuries. The
fact that Crocs has practically become a household word
since their inception in 2002 is quite amazing. Crocs
popularity might be part of the problem since they have
sold 50 million pairs of shoes in five years. And yes, the
knock-offs are getting caught in elevators too.

Shoe entrapment happens to young and old, to people wearing
galoshes, rubber soles, and even stiletto heels. Escalators
are powerful complex pieces of equipment with moving parts.

Hidden Dangers

"This is a hidden danger, not only in terms of the
escalator equipment, but in the design of the shoes", said
Philadelphia Lawyer Joel D. Feldman, Esquire and co-author
of Elevator and Escalator Accident Litigation and
Reconstruction, 2nd edition. "The soles of these shoes are
sticky and thus easily can become stuck in equipment.
Since they are made of a soft substance, they provide
little protection from the power contained in the motors of
an escalator. So, no slip is not always safe in terms of
contact with escalators." Mr. Feldman is a shareholder at
the Philadelphia Law Firm of Anapol Schwartz Weiss Cohan
Feldman & Smalley. Lawsuits have been filed for slip &
fall cases involving escalators.

Escalator Injury Rips off Child's Toe

For example, a 4-year-old boy got his foot caught in an
escalator last month in a Virginia mall. His mother
managed to yank him free, but the nail on his big toe was
almost completely ripped off, causing heavy bleeding.
Initially mom had no idea what caused the boy's foot to get
caught. It was only later; when someone at the hospital
remarked about the child's shoes - Crocs -- that she did an
Internet search.

According to reports appearing across the United States and
as far away as Singapore and Japan, shoe entrapments occur
because of the shoe's flexibility and grip. Some report the
shoes get caught in the teeth at the bottom or top of the
escalator or in the crack between the steps and the side of
the escalator.

The reports of serious injuries have all involved young
children. Crocs are commonly worn by children as young as 2.

In Japan, the government warned consumers last week that it
has received 39 reports of sandals - mostly Crocs or
similar products - getting stuck in escalators from late
August through early September. Most of the reports appear
to have involved small children, some as young as two years
old.

Kazuo Motoya of Japan's National Institute of Technology
and Evaluation said children may have more escalator
accidents in part because they bounce around when they
stand on escalators, instead of watching where they place
their feet. In Singapore, a 2-year-old girl wearing rubber
clogs - (brand unknown) - had her big toe completely ripped
off in an escalator accident.

At the Atlanta airport, a 3-year-old boy wearing Crocs
suffered a deep gash across the top of his toes; one of
seven shoe entrapments at the airport in less than nine
months, and all but two involved Crocs.

As for escalator safety, you should always have your child
stand right in the middle of the steps so if you're on the
escalator with your child, your hold the railing and then
you hold your child's hand and make sure the child is right
in the middle, nowhere near the sides because that's where
the accidents can happen.

And then when you get down to the bottom, make sure that
you help your child get off.

During the past two years, shoe entrapments in the
Washington Metro subway have gone from being relatively
rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer,
though none have caused serious injuries.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said escalator
accidents caused more than 10,000 injuries last year, but
the agency has few records of specific shoe problems. Only
two shoe entrapments have been reported by consumers since
the beginning of 2006. One reported in May involved rubber
footwear.

Agency spokesman Ed Kang urged people who have had problems
to report them on the commission's Web site at
http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html/.

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Anapol Schwartz, on the web at http://anapolschwartz.com/ ,
has a long history as a "personal injury" firm; however a
closer look reveals that the firm has grown through
diversification, while maintaining a tradition of
excellence. Anapol Schwartz now handles a wider range of
cases, including securities and employment litigation. For
more information on the dangers of Croc shoes, visit
http://www.anapolschwartz.com/attorneys/joel_feldman.shtml