Escalator Accident Near New York Injures 5

December 11, 2010

Officials decided to close all 31 escalators at the Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station in New Jersey after an accident Sunday evening injured five people.

Following a New York Jets game, fans were riding up a 25-foot-long escalator with it came to an abrupt stop. Some people who were on the escalator at the time lost their balance and fell. A man and a woman suffered head injuries, while the other three had knee and rib injuries. All were taken to local hospitals.

According to an official, none of the escalator caused injuries were life-threatening.

"What also scares people is the knowledge that a routine trip on an escalator can take a terrifying turn. Accidents happen with escalators, and they happen with elevators. Accidents may be rare but still, they happen," said New York elevator accident attorney David Perecman.

According to a 2006 survey using data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), accidents involving escalators and elevators kill approximately 30 people and seriously injure about 17,000 others each year in the U.S. Almost 90% of the deaths and 60% of serious injuries are elevator caused. Almost half the annual elevator-related fatalities are workers who repair, maintain, and/or service elevators

As New York elevator accident attorneys understand, almost half of the deaths of non-work related elevator injuries were due to falls in the elevator shaft, and the other half occurred as a result of being caught in-between the elevator and door or the shaft wall. Elevator fall deaths typically mean a person has fallen into an elevator shaft because an elevator door opened and there was no elevator car. Elevator accidents may be the result of improper maintenance procedures or malfunction such as in the wiring, pulley systems, door operation.

A New York elevator accident attorney experienced with handling escalator accident and elevator accident cases should be contacted as soon as possible after a person is injured by an elevator or an escalator. An expert New York elevator accident attorney should also be contacted immediately if a family member is killed due to an escalator accident or an elevator accident in New York. An elevator accident attorney should be knowledgeable in the technicalities and specifications of elevator equipment, a central issue in most New York elevator accident lawsuits.

The escalators in New Jersey have since resumed service.

"Thankfully elevator accidents in New York, New Jersey and everywhere else are rare," said Perecman of New York, an elevator accident attorney for over three decades.

Article provided by Perecman & Fanning PLLC
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