You know, I though people were just being dumb with that "crocs on escalators" thing.

[Zsofia]

And goddamn if a kid didn’t just get caught in the escalator here. Tore the toe of the shoe right off. (Toe of the kid was fine.) Security was running their mouths with deadbeat patrons and took FOREVER to get there, with us yelling and everything. Couple years of my life gone right there, I tell you.

He did ride the escalator out, I mean, like I used to when I was a kid and my mom always told me I’d get sucked into it like a vacuum cleaner, but damn. I read those articles about “Ooooh Crocs are so dangerous, news at 11! Silent killer in the library!” But I’ll be damned - this one, very isolated, one in a million time, alarmist news stories are right.

Sorry, I didn’t really have a point here, except that I needed to dry off that cold sweat.

[Syntropy]

See? SEE??!! All hail Brody Bruce, prophet.

[twickster]

Cool! They can run a follow-up to the story they had on the local news last week saying “nyah nyah nyah, told you so!”

[Mangetout]

Crocs (no socks) on escalators
Are still much safer than alligators.

[Marlitharn]

I had never heard that Crocs were a danger on escalators. Why is that? I mean, they don’t have shoelaces or anything that can get caught in the mechanism thingy.

[GingerOfTheNorth]

I have just this weekend completed the trifecta of ugly shoes. Birks, Clarks, and now Crocs. There are no escalators in my hospital, so I think I’ll be ok. My feet will just look like turquoise duck feet.

[twickster]

@Marlitharn

I had never heard that Crocs were a danger on escalators. Why is that? I mean, they don’t have shoelaces or anything that can get caught in the mechanism thingy.

Apparently, kids let their feet rub against the edges of the escalator as they go up (or down), which causes the Crocs to heat up just enough to get a wee bit melty, which can lead to them getting caught in the treads.

[Green_Cymbeline]

Here’s a good article from The Consumerist about this: “Children, Crocs And Escalators Combine To Produce Mangled Feet”

Crocs are both extremely popular and extremely good at gripping surfaces, which can become a problem when they are combined with small children and moving escalators.

According to a discussion going on over at Wise Bread, more and than a few children have been seriously injured when their Crocs or other rubber clogs stuck to a moving elevator. A few children have actually had toes ripped off by the escalator.

That this was even possible would not have occurred to us, so we thought we’d pass the information along to those of you who have kids. It’s probably not a good idea to allow your children to wear these shoes on escalators.

[danceswithcats]

@twickster

Apparently, kids let their feet rub against the edges of the escalator as they go up (or down), which causes the Crocs to heat up just enough to get a wee bit melty, which can lead to them getting caught in the treads.

That doesn’t make sense. Rubbing the sides isn’t going to transmit enough heat energy to the tread area in the short time a youngster is on an escalator to make that cause/effect equation complete.

If you have a cite, I’d love to read it.

[enipla]

@danceswithcats

That doesn’t make sense. Rubbing the sides isn’t going to transmit enough heat energy to the tread area in the short time a youngster is on an escalator to make that cause/effect equation complete.

If you have a cite, I’d love to read it.

I have some crocs. I suspect that they don’t mean the edges (poor reporting and all that). But if you where going up, and jammed the toe of the shoe against the vertical part of the step ABOVE the stair that you are standing on I could imagine that as you reach the top and the stair above you goes down it could try to suck the toe of the shoe in with it. I don’t see what else could be happening.

[Harmonious_Discord]

I await the first report of a kid in those damn heely shoes, going down the escalator backwards and leaving brain all over the landing. The parents will be going on about how they’re not to blame, it’s a dangerous shoe design. Never mind that they chose to buy it, and let junior ride the escalator with them on.

[TokyoBayer]

There have been problems here in Japan about the crocs on escalators, where some kids and lost or broken toes. What is happening?

[MsRobyn]

@Harmonious Discord

I await the first report of a kid in those damn heely shoes, going down the escalator backwards and leaving brain all over the landing. The parents will be going on about how they’re not to blame, it’s a dangerous shoe design. Never mind that they chose to buy it, and let junior ride the escalator with them on.

I haven’t seen brain, but I saw a Heely-wearing child roll right into a crowd at the mall. No escalators involved, but the kid was slightly hurt and people he hit weren’t pleased. IIRC, in fact, my local mall has banned the use of Heelys as roller skates.

Robin

[Ferret_Herder]

The article at Snopes suggests that it’s the soft nature of the shoe and the ridged bottom which can get stuck in the escalator better than many other kinds of footwear. It also seems to be a particular risk if your shoe is pressed against the side of the escalator - probably kids like to press against the non-moving wall because it’s fun, or maybe children are kept at their parents’ sides and thus more likely to become trapped that way.

[Harmonious_Discord]

@MsRobyn

I haven’t seen brain, but I saw a Heely-wearing child roll right into a crowd at the mall. No escalators involved, but the kid was slightly hurt and people he hit weren’t pleased. IIRC, in fact, my local mall has banned the use of Heelys as roller skates.

Robin

I’ve seen the kid crash before. I await the spectacular one, with me not being involved. I wonder if mentioning heelys, cars with towropes, and Youtube by a crowd of kids would give them ideas.

[twickster]

@danceswithcats

That doesn’t make sense. Rubbing the sides isn’t going to transmit enough heat energy to the tread area in the short time a youngster is on an escalator to make that cause/effect equation complete.

If you have a cite, I’d love to read it.

This was the story on the local news that I referred to in my first post in this thread. I’m guessing it was Channel 3, since that’s the channel I usually watch. I went to their website and found this story, which isn’t the actual one I saw – see the last couple of paragraphs.

[samclem]

From twickster’s cite.

During the past two years, so-called “shoe entrapments” in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer, though none has caused serious injuries, said Dave Lacosse, who oversees the subway’s 588 escalators, the most of any U.S. transit system.

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.”

A guy who is responsible, day to day, for the Washington(DC?) subway says that incidents have gone from “relatively rare” to “five times a week.” That’s a pretty indicative indictment from someone who has hands-on responsiblity.

The next paragraph gives a CPSC response which says they have few records to indicate such things are happening. But, if the incident/injury is minor, there would not be a likely report to them(my interpretatioln).

So, yes, this is happening.

[Kalhoun]

@danceswithcats

That doesn’t make sense. Rubbing the sides isn’t going to transmit enough heat energy to the tread area in the short time a youngster is on an escalator to make that cause/effect equation complete.

If you have a cite, I’d love to read it.

I think the danger would be in creating the high-pitched squeaking sound that would get your ass tossed off the escalator into the fountain below.

[Askance]

@Zsofia

that “crocs on escalators” thing.

Did anyone else think this thread was going to be about a lame sequel to Snakes on a Plane? Just me? OK then.

[Randy_Seltzer]

@Askance

Did anyone else think this thread was going to be about a lame sequel to Snakes on a Plane? Just me? OK then.

In fact, I read “elevator” originally, and was picturing the reptile rather than the shoes.

I got a great mental picture of pushing the ‘up’ button, having the door open, and seeing a 16-foot crocodile awkwardly crammed into the tiny elevator, trying to look intimidating. Rawr.