Man Injured in Subway Escalator Trip-and-Fall Accident

 A 77-year-old man suffered injuries after a trip-and-fall accident while going up an escalator at the new Hudson Yards 7 train stop. According to a news report on DNAinfo.com, the man tripped and fell on one of the station’s steep escalators, the longest in any of New York City’s subway stations and hit his head. The escalator is about 109 feet below street level. The man suffered scrapes on his head and leg. Witnesses said the man had climbed about 20 steps up the escalator when he went down.

The Danger of Escalators
Nearly 12,000 people die each year in the United States as a result of falling down a staircase – moving or stationary. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about 10,000 escalator-related injuries each year result in emergency department treatment in the United States. Since the 1990s, a steady increase has been reported nationwide in escalator accident injuries.
A NIH study in March 2013 looked at 173 patients with 285 discrete injuries and found that of those injuries 62 percent occurred in public transport facilities such as subway stations and 30 percent in shipping centers. The majority of injuries to women were to the lower extremities, while most men suffered head and neck injuries. Nearly half of all patients included in the study had required hospitalization. Of those 45 percent left the hospital within 24 hours of admission and 55 percent stayed longer than 24 hours.
Types of Escalator Accidents
Based on statistics relating to escalator accidents, a majority of those seriously injured or killed in these types of accidents tend to be children under 12 and senior citizens over 65.
If the escalator malfunctions and the handrail or steps suddenly stop, for example, falls may occur. Also if the height of the escalator’s side walls is not sufficient, such defective design may cause riders to lose their balance and fall over the sides. Also, if the gap between the skirting and the moving stairs on an escalator is too wide, clothing or even body parts can be caught inside the mechanism.
Escalator injuries and fatalities may also occur as a result of handrail entrapments, broken or missing steps, comb plate entrapment, and stalled escalators that are used as stairs. When escalators are stalled or turned off, it does not take a lot of weight to make the steps start moving again if the brake is damaged or not set. In such cases, an individual may slip and fall.
Injuries and Liability
Injuries suffered in escalator accidents can be debilitating and result in permanent disfigurement or disabilities. When extremities such as hands or feet are trapped in an escalator’s moving parts, a person may suffer amputations, which are catastrophic injuries. Some of the common injuries suffered by victims in escalator accidents include bruises, contusions, bone fractures, lacerations, traumatic brain injuries, spinal damage, internal trauma and neck injuries. Escalator falls may also prove fatal in some cases.
Who can be held liable for an escalator accident injury or death? There are a number of parties that may potentially be held liable such as the manufacturer, the maintenance company, the property manager and/or property owner, etc. For example, if the accident occurred because the escalator was in a state of disrepair, then the property manager and/or property owner as well as the maintenance team can be held liable. A premises liability claim can be filed against the negligent parties in such cases. Injured victims can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a New York escalator accident, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm to obtain more information about pursuing your legal rights. Our law firm did recover $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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Source: DNAinfo.com