My wife and kids were at a store today on an escalator and our boy’s hand got caught in the return slot of the hand rail at the bottom. The rails are a type of rubber that seem kind of ‘sticky’, I believe because they help you hang on better as you ascend or descend. Harder rubber would likely cause more falls. Like auto tires, you could make one that doesn’t wear much at all, but you’d slide all over the road. These rails seem to grip the hand pretty well, and adults just know when to let go. Unfortunately, kids do not. The rail drew his hand towards the return for the rail and trapped it. It abraded his hand and gave him, according to the description of the ER doc, a second degree burn and a contusion. He’s doing fine, BTW.
My question or poll is this:
Have any of you had, or heard of, problems with escalators? (i.e. injuries) I’ve read the odd article about someone being bound up by them, by clothes or otherwise, but is it commonplace? Frankly, I’ve never really liked them myself… too slow. I’d rather take the stairs. Thirty stories? Yeah, I’ll take the elevator. One floor? I’ll take the stairs.
Do you take the escalators in malls, etc.?
Ever had any problems?
Do they seem inherently dangerous to you?
Your thought and/or stories?
Thanks…