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DEL.ICIO.USIn 3 accidents, soft shoes caught side of escalator
Hartsfield-Jackson airport says footwear is the problem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/01/08
Lesley Grinberg of Sandy Springs already hated her son's Crocs.
So when 7-year-old Ari found his shoes trapped in a Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport escalator on Wednesday, her only concern was his safety.
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"I freaked, and I remembered what had happened in other cases," Grinberg said of escalators gobbling up the popular rubbery, clog-like shoes ... and the children's feet inside.
Ari escaped unharmed, but his was one of three incidents this week in which children's shoes were grabbed by the airport escalators, and among at least half a dozen dating to the spring.
Two other young boys suffered injuries at the airport this week when their soft shoes got caught in the escalator -- and similar accidents have been reported across the country.
A 7-year-old boy who was injured Tuesday was wearing Crocs, said airport spokesman Herschel Grangent. He suffered lacerations on a foot, Grangent said.
And a 4-year-old who suffered injuries Thursday was wearing flip-flops, Grangent said, though a representative from the company that maintains the airport's escalators described them as sandals. Grangent did not know that boy's condition.
Both children were injured after their shoes got caught between the moving stairs and the sides, or skirts, of the escalators, Grangent said.
"The issue has been the footwear that people have been wearing," Grangent said. "I don't have any specific information, but we have seen some indications that it is happening all over the world in malls and other airports and other buildings."
The state Labor Department, which is responsible for inspecting elevators, has documented four other similar incidents at Hartsfield since April of last year, according to public records. Three involved children wearing Crocs.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about such shoes in May. At the time, the commission said it had tracked 77 such "entrapment" incidents since January 2006, with about half resulting in injury.
Crocs spokeswoman Tia Mattson said her company's polyurethane shoes don't render wearers any more susceptible to escalator accidents than any other shoes.
Two weeks ago Andrew Meyer, one of the children whose accidents were recently reported by the Labor Department, suffered several broken toes when his Crocs were caught in a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator, said his mother, Belinda Skelton.
"Two-thirds of the way down, I heard, pop, pop, snap ... what I realized was Andrew's toes breaking," Skelton said. "We came within millimeters of losing [his] big toe." Two of Andrew's toes were broken, with one of them needing a pin, the skin cut to the bone.
Andrew, she said, is recovering after surgery and is on his second cast, unable to put any weight on his right foot. "You try keeping a 4-year-old from walking," said Skelton, who produces the Neal Boortz show on WSB radio, a station that is owned by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc.
Asked for copies of this week's accident reports concerning the escalators, Grangent referred the AJC to the company that manages them for the airport: Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corp. Kim Vagher, the corporation's executive director, referred the AJC to the state Department of Labor for copies of the reports.
Earl Everett, who is in charge of the Labor Department's elevator inspections, said his agency's reports on this week's accidents are not yet complete. But his inspectors have examined the escalators since the accidents and have determined they meet state code and are safe, Everett said.
"They are very safe for people to get on them. But if you are wearing Crocs, stand in the center of the stair," said Everett, who happened to be wearing a pair of camouflage-colored Crocs as he spoke to the AJC in his Atlanta office.
This week, Hartsfield posted signs and started airing public announcements throughout the airport warning people to be careful while wearing soft shoes on the escalators, Grangent said.
Marietta's David Gray said his then-3-year-old daughter Natalie was hurt when her Crocs were caught in a Hartsfield escalator in April. But Gray blames the escalator rather than the shoe manufacturer.
"I think it could happen with any shoe," he said. "The fact that a small foot can get caught under that [escalator] skirt is a problem."
Natalie Gray got her feet wedged in between the escalator step and the skirt. No bones were broken, and Gray said he learned a lesson.
"In hindsight, parents shouldn't be taking their small kids on the escalator," he said. "Not when you're traveling with baggage and don't have hands free to watch your child."
-- Staff writer John Perry contributed to this article.
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Comments
By Sherman
Aug 2, 2008 2:04 PM | Link to this
I saw some lady on the news this morning saying escalator companies should be mandated, where you can wear these shoes and not be harmed? Last time I checked escalators have been around since 1859 and have had a great track record since. Accidents here and there. And Crocs have been around since 2002. Why do escalator companies have to be mandated, why not Crocs. Those smelly shoes should be banned.
By William
Aug 2, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this
I listen to the Boortz show and remember Belinda talking about the Krocs problems months ago. And what happens, she lets her kid wear them and ride a escalator? DUH Must be her hillbilly, outhouse using, moonshine drinking, **** fighting bloodline. You can take the hillbilly out of the hills, but you can't take the hillbilly out of Belinda. I just hope her kid is ok. Maybe he'll get a free education nestegg out of the lawsuit, but heck this is Georgia, any highschool student with a grade inflated C average can get a free education thanks to the Poor Tax that we call a Lottery. I guess little Orville will only be able to make left turns now.
Bla Bla Bla
By mitch
Aug 2, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
Fashion tips for women from a guy
who knows d1ck about fashion.
Before I begin, I should warn you that I know d1ck about fashion. It's not just a clever title to get your attention, though it's admittedly clever (I'm honest enough to admit when something is brilliant, even when it's my own writing).
You shouldn't read this article if you're a woman with low self-esteem. I don't need my inbox filled with emails from teary-eyed women reaffirming how astute my observations are by shrieking at me for ruining their lives.
Women get away with murder in our society, especially when it comes to the visual pollution they call fashion. So I'm going to do what few peopleýfew menýhave ever done by criticizing you. Sure, you may be thinking "but Maddox, people criticize women's fashion all the time!" Yes, but not men, and definitely not badasses like me.... Until now.
Crocs look like sh1t and they make your feet smell.
When I see people wearing Crocs, I know immediately that we have nothing in common, and that we could never be friends or have any meaningful kind of relationship. They come in every color imaginable yet look bad with every other article of clothing ever created. The only thing that goes with Crocs is social ostracism.
When it comes to shoes, there are usually three deciding factors: quality, price, and style. Some shoes are cheap and stylish, but poor quality, while others are stylish and durable, but expensive. Crocs usually go for $30-$60, which doesn't sound like much for a shoe, until you consider that what you're really paying for are melted pellets squirted into a cast-iron mold in some province in China. Crocs have the rare combination of being expensive, poor quality, and ugly. It's quite a feat for one shoe to suck this bad.
People who wear Crocs go on and on about how comfortable they are, and how it's supposedly odor resistant because it's made out of some kind of anti-bacterial foam. Great point, dipsh1ts! You know what else it's resistant to? You getting laid. Then as if the shoes weren't disgusting enough, Crocs introduced a product called "Crocs butter" that's supposed to restore that illustrious injection-molded sheen to those gaping holes they call shoes.
You know that feeling you get when you're full and slightly nauseous and you burp and you can taste the partly digested food in the back of your throat? There isn't a word in the english language to succinctly describe it, but I will hereby refer to it as: croc-butter.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=fashion
By Jim
Aug 2, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
Hi, some of the above comments were just ugly and thats not right. Hang in there Belinda, not everyone feels that way. Hope your son is better soon.
By TCH
Aug 2, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this
Confused...If there are regularly reported instances of children wearing crocs getting harmed on escalators, what makes parents think putting their croc-wearing children on escalators is a good idea? BTW, there are elevators at the airport beside the escalators...
By thomas
Aug 2, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Listen folks,
This issue with escalators snatching folks feet off has been around for DECADES. MARTA started using step guards for years for this very reason. In fact I watched a 20/20 segment TWO DECADES ago about this. The escaltor companies didn't want to pay the man who invented the escalator step plate guards, so they ignored him and refused to use his guards on their escalators. The companies (like Otis) knew that the space between the edge of the step and side of the escalator had the potential to grab a shoe. But they, like most corporations, ignored it. I guess they figure that paying off a few mil from the RARE lawsuit is cheaper than spending the money to change the escalator design.
Oh, and by the way, I think Boortz ought to call a spade a spade. Belinda Skelton knew that the Crocs were dangerous on escalators. She WORKS in the media. She knew of the dangers. Yet she choose to do want she wanted to do and her son has some broken toes now. Yet Mr. Boortz isn't saying anything about personal responsiblity now. I guess "personal responsibility" is for other people.
By Publicenemynumberone
Aug 2, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
I'm forty-two years old and I've never had my foot caught in an escalator.
Is it because I'm lucky? No, my parents taught me at a very young age that escalators are dangerous and you should be careful. Always make sure your shoes are tied and step off at the end of the ride (don't slide off).
Belinda, if you need help being a smart parent just let me know. I'll teach your kids how to eat without choking (chew your food) and how not to fall out of your chair (don't lean back or rock it).
Stupid breeds stupid.
By Kraw
Aug 2, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
the majority should have to suffer! We must abolish escalators so the 4 people out of 90 million that visit the airport, will not be inconvenienced!
By Ricko
Aug 2, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this
WHAT A CROC....................
By NealBoortzACherryPicker?
Aug 2, 2008 9:25 AM | Link to this
If anyone other than his producer's child was caught in the escalator, he would be openly mocking the "breeder."
Did he address it on his show, and if so did he stay consistent with his "personal responsibility" mantra and blast Belinda for putting fashion over safety, or did he take the coward's way out and duck the issue?
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