Another escalator accident on Red Line ?

Hey guys. Anybody know exactly what happened last night @ Harvard? I was in Harvard Square around noon time today and Dan Rea from chnne 4 was doing a report about something happening to a femae passenger from Watertown last night. (That's all I heard him say....guess I'll hav to watch tonight's broadcast ) Maybe even get a cameo appearance. LOL.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/42 ... etail.html

Woman, 24, Hurt In MBTA Escalator Accident
Clothing Snagged In Escalator At Harvard Square

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A 24-year-old Watertown woman had to be rescued after she tripped and her clothing became caught in an MBTA escalator in Harvard Square Thursday night. The incident comes days after another man was killed in a 'T' escalator accident.

Click the link for the rest of the article.

For some reason, escalator accidents, many fatal, are increasing all over the country. DC's Metrorail has had a number of them, including one which killed a two year old girl, and even the department stores are not immune. Columbia, Maryland's JC Penny Co. had an accident in which a female employee was killed while riding an escalator in the store ( an escalator which I have ridden, and still ride, quite frequently). In the 1950's and 60's is was very rare to hear or read about these kinds of incidents.----- Makes one ask "What's Happening?"

Don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but the escalator at Porter that killed that kid has been out-of-service ever since this week's incident happened at Harvard. They haven't even been taking it apart or anything...it's just stopped and blocked off with the yellow repair barricades (usually when one of the Porter escalators breaks, it's taken apart in and strewn along the far wall in pieces the next day). Maybe the "problem" escalators are getting closer scrutiny after the latest incident happened in such close succession to the fatality.

I remember the scene the day after the Porter accident. In addition to the normal 2-3 man repair crew, there were another 5 or 6 official-looking police and MBTA officials intently overseeing the inspection. (This was before I even heard the news report of the fatality). It was quite the show of manpower compared to the usual response to a broken escalator. Certainly caused a big stir among puzzled commuters watching this scene unfold.

I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing a LOT more out-of-service escalators across the whole system over the next few weeks as the fallout breeds tighter vigilance about ANY potential safety issues.

I still would prefer to take the escalator @ Porter Sq. instead of the elevator.

BTW, anybody know roughly how long that escalator is? It is a long ride.

that elevator likes to get stuck between floors a lot

I will tell you what you will see very soon, for better or for worse; Digital video monitoring of all station entrances, exits, and platforms.

walt wrote:For some reason, escalator accidents, many fatal, are increasing all over the country. DC's Metrorail has had a number of them, including one which killed a two year old girl, and even the department stores are not immune. Columbia, Maryland's JC Penny Co. had an accident in which a female employee was killed while riding an escalator in the store ( an escalator which I have ridden, and still ride, quite frequently). In the 1950's and 60's is was very rare to hear or read about these kinds of incidents.----- Makes one ask "What's Happening?"

Let's start with the fact that people are not paying attention as they are walking around, with the I-pods, and Cell phones in their ears, or they are watching what the devices do on their small screens, also on many young people, those baggy clothes tend to get snagged on a lot of things, let alone escalator steps, and lets talk about the loose and untied shoes, they are asking for trouble. Add to the fact that people are ALWAYS in a hurry, so rushing naturally makes one somewhat inattentive.

People have to remember when riding escalators, you have to WATCH YOUR STEP when getting on or off, and when you get on, STAND THERE until it is time to get off. And please DO NOT SIT ON THE ESCALATOR STEPS!!!!!

To make a long story short, there is a alarming lack of common sense aroud these days.

Isn't it funny that not too long after the MBTA STOPPED PLAYING THE PSA about ESCULATOR SAFETY that there are two accidents that make the news...you get what you want, people complained about the annoying announcements constantly playing and as soon as they stop people start getting hurt again...Common sense doesn't ride the T anymore!

as part of the hub station monitor/afc project all stations will have video cameras

I don't see how a camera system would have prevented either of the two recent accidents.

Ron Newman wrote:I don't see how a camera system would have prevented either of the two recent accidents.

Keeping tabs on who is intoxicated would have prevented one of them...

CSX Conductor wrote:BTW, anybody know roughly how long that escalator is? It is a long ride.

One of the reports I read about the fatality said it was 143 feet. A smaller number than I expected, considering how ominous it looks.

I was surprised to hear that the T recently renewed their contract with Kone, despite the accidents and the overall shotty job they've done.

efin98 wrote:Isn't it funny that not too long after the MBTA STOPPED PLAYING THE PSA about ESCULATOR SAFETY that there are two accidents that make the news..

It doesn't matter. Noone could understand what the hell they were saying anyway.

I wouldn't mind seeing signs saying "stand on the right, walk on the left". I've seen these in other cities, though I can't remember where.