Friday, July 17, 2009

An escalator accident at a Wichita mall has a mother sending out a warning about the type of shoes children wear.

Seven-year-old Tristen Holloway was wearing the shoes known as ‘Crocs’ when he was riding on an escalator.

“His shoes just got stuck so fast, it started to suck him under and he fell to his knees. I grabbed him up as fast as I could. Both of his shoes were gone,” said Desiree Holloway, Tristen’s mom.

Tristen didn’t get hurt, but other kids have been injured when their soft-sided shoes were trapped in an escalator.

Since January of 2006, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports 77 accidents where someone’s soft-sided shoe was trapped in an escalator. In 38 of those incidents, someone was injured.

The company that makes one kind of rubber clogs, Crocs, sells millions every year.

They have issued the following statement:

While we are naturally attentive to reports that our shoes were involved in a limited number of footwear-related escalator-entrapment incidents, we are convinced that our shoes have neither created nor increased the rate of such incidents.

As recognized by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, all soft-soled shoes carry a very small risk of being caught in moving parts of escalators. When compared with the number of escalator rides per year (at present, the CPSC’s Office of Information and Public Affairs estimates there are approximately 90 billion annual escalator rides in the United States), the number of actual incidents is statistically miniscule.

As the CPSC has recognized, escalator design, escalator maintenance, and rider behavior are the primary causes of such incidents.

The most important safety factor is safe riding behavior. Parents should supervise and assist children. Riders of all ages should step on and off escalators and moving walkways with caution, stand only in the middle of the steps, hold on to the handrail and ensure feet and loose clothing are clear of steps and sides.

More information on escalator safety is available from the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation at www.eesf.org.

As a part of a previously announced escalator safety awareness initiative, Crocs is integrating a hang tag which includes consumer education messages regarding escalator safety. This is a rolling change and the tags began appearing on newly manufactured in April.