bobobb ([info]bobobb) wrote in [info]davis_square,
2008-09-07 20:28:00
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Beware: man-earting escalators at Davis Square T

Today I saw a second person who's shoe was sucked into the escalator when he was taking it into the T station -- the other person was about a week ago.  Is this a common occurance?
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[info]theodosia

September 8 2008, 00:36:03 UTC 3 years ago

A couple of years ago, the elevators at Porter killed a guy, so it could have been worse.

(No, I'm not making that up! Circumstances were that he passed out dead drunk on the long one up and then the pull-cord on his hoodie got sucked into the mechanism and choked him to death before anyone could cut him loose.)

[info]somertricky

September 8 2008, 01:40:24 UTC 3 years ago

Isadora Duncan meets the Darwin Awards.

[info]mmancuso

September 8 2008, 15:19:45 UTC 3 years ago

Perfect. And horrible. both at the same time. :)

[info]ron_newman

September 8 2008, 18:15:30 UTC 3 years ago

Elevators, or escalators?

[info]theodosia

September 8 2008, 22:04:38 UTC 3 years ago

Eeek! Yes, escalator.

It could probably also happen with an elevator, but since the escalators at Porter are some of the longest ones in America and they're not fast, the possibility of passing out on one is certainly greater than average.

[info]mamabunny72

September 8 2008, 01:51:58 UTC 3 years ago

I hope that it's not common....

about a year ago, I witnessed a guy's shoelace getting caught (can't remember if it was @ Davis or in Boston) and on a local parents' list sometime this summer, I read about a most unfortunate incident where a kid's Crocs got stuck, and her foot was badly injured :-(

Just be careful, don't have your feet (or anything you're carrying) close to the bristles are. My kid's stroller was too close to the bristles once and the wheel slightly jammed as the escalator descended, which made the escalator stop automatically. Oops.

[info]cityofbeige

September 8 2008, 02:10:52 UTC 3 years ago

Re: I hope that it's not common....

Just be careful, don't have your feet (or anything you're carrying) close to the bristles are. My kid's stroller was too close to the bristles once and the wheel slightly jammed as the escalator descended, which made the escalator stop automatically. Oops.

Yeah, the common misconception with escalators is that more often things get caught at the teeth-like grates on the tops and bottoms of the escalator, but this is far from the truth. I think the reason why people think this way is because they see it everytime they get on and off the escalator.

In reality, most escalator accidents occur when something gets caught between the side of the step and walls of the escalator... and the addition of bristles in the past decade or so is there to warn people that they're too close.

[info]somertricky

September 8 2008, 02:17:00 UTC 3 years ago

Re: I hope that it's not common....

I thought the purpose of the bristles was to touch up my shoeshine.

[info]annalauwa

September 8 2008, 11:56:15 UTC 3 years ago

Re: I hope that it's not common....

that's what i've been using them for!

[info]damagedmuse

September 8 2008, 14:02:25 UTC 3 years ago

Re: I hope that it's not common....

and here I thought I was the only one...

[info]kungfupolarbear

September 8 2008, 02:20:26 UTC 3 years ago

Re: I hope that it's not common....

I just keep thinking of that scene in Mallrats "THE KID IS ON THE ESCALATOR AGAIN!"

[info]ron_newman

September 8 2008, 02:25:57 UTC 3 years ago

Years ago, the top of the up escalator to the Holland Street exit bit off the front of my right boot. Fortunately, my foot was not injured.

[info]_mattt

September 8 2008, 03:54:21 UTC 3 years ago

They don't call that escalator "The Mangler" for nothing.

[info]avacon

September 8 2008, 04:44:07 UTC 3 years ago Edited:  September 8 2008, 04:45:22 UTC

From back in 2005 on the bottom of the right Holland St escalator:

[info]badseed1980

September 8 2008, 11:16:55 UTC 3 years ago

It's only happened to me at Downtown Crossing, with a slightly-too-big pair of sandals.

[info]yakshaver

September 8 2008, 13:14:16 UTC 3 years ago

I remember my mom teaching me to always step off an escalator at least a foot before it reached the end — which became such an ingrained habit I don't think I've consciously thought of it for thirty years. Now I know why she was so insistent about it.

[info]cold_type

September 8 2008, 14:31:58 UTC 3 years ago

I lost more than my shoes on the Davis Square elevator -- I lost the seat of my pants. A few months ago, I was descending the down escalator on a rainy day with rubber shoes, when I slipped. Before I could get back up, my bag and the seat of my pants got caught in the grate at the bottom. The worst part is that I had to wait 1/2 hour for a maintenance worker to arrive to free me -- by turning the escalator on in reverse -- because the station operator didn't have a key to the escalator. Fortunately, I wasn't injured. But the pants were ripped beyond repair.

[info]ron_newman

September 8 2008, 18:19:01 UTC 3 years ago

A year or two ago, a woman was stuck at the top of an escalator leading up from the platform to the fare-gate level. The escalator was (fortunately) stopped, but her pant leg was caught in the teeth, so she couldn't go anywhere. A T worker had radioed or gone for help, but she didn't know how long that would take.

I offered to just yank on the pant leg and pull it out of the escalator, warning her that it would probably rip to shreds. She said yes, and I did, and she went on her way.

[info]beanie83

October 1 2008, 18:34:33 UTC 3 years ago

It happened to me!!!

My foot was actually sucked into the down escalator on September 16th at Davis Square. (I am notorious for my bad luck). Anyway... the guy behind me actually had to RIP my foot out of it and when he did I honestly thought I was not going to have a toe. The nail came completely off and my actual nail bed underneath was gashed to the point where it needed stitches. All the bones in the top part of my big toe were shattered like confetti. Now I have to wear a goofy shoe after FINALLY being off crutches and I am going to have to have surgery.

And guess how much (from what I've gathered) MBTA is going to help me out on this one? The answer is ZERO. They are bankrupt as it is and, supposedly, I'd just be wasting even more money on a lawyer.

[info]beanie83

October 1 2008, 18:37:14 UTC 3 years ago

I should also add..

It actually never stopped. People just kept piling down on top of me. And the thing kept rolling so it kept sucking my foot in further and further so that my toe literally got stretched out a couple of inches when it broke. And everyone around me was in such a state of panic that they didn't think (nor did I) to hit the STOP button which was about 2 feet away from where I was laying SCREAMING. And I should note I was wearing really durable black leather flats which were apparently stuck flapping in the bottom of the escalator that they STILL chose not to stop while I was in an ambulance on my way to the ER.
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