Why Escalator Accident is Worst Way To Die 

I used to be terrified of escalators when I was really young. It's nice to know my seemingly irrational fear was entirely justified.

As a small kid I had a shoelace stuck at the bottom of an escalator. I panicked, but a woman behind me grabbed my leg and yanked it free. I don't know how much danger I was actually in, but to this day I still avoid them whenever I can.

i’m never poking fun at someone for being scared of an escalator again

I was a manager for years at a JCPenney in the mall and I’ve seen people be nearly chopped to death in the escalator. It was like a death trap for older people. One day I was walking by the thing and somebody hit the alarm button on it and right when I turned my head, I saw an old man on all fours at the bottom of the escalator covered in blood. It was unbelievable.

Growing up I've always hated elevators and escalators, both. I went out of my way to find a stairwell even in larger buildings and I still do even though I'm overweight. Good for the soul is what I tell myself!

I remember going to the mall really oftenly with my aunt as a kid, and she was especially attentive during escalators telling me to be careful on the last step. She never failed to warn me and I took it seriously bc of that. This video just explained how dangerous it could've happen

Years ago, I was in a mall with my extended family. My cousin was wearing CROCS (important). We rode an escalator and I heard a loud snap. I immediately turned around to see my cousin's croc getting eaten alive by the side of the escalator. It was a good thing she lifted her foot fast enough for it not to get caught as well. Walking around the mall without one shoe is way better than losing a foot.

Jesus, that escalated quickly.

I *used* to be afraid of escalators as a kid due to a fear of height. I coped with it in my teens. I *used* to not be afraid of escalators as an adult. I just found more reasons to fear and respect these fine death machines.

I used to think that smoke inhalation was a great kindness and that at least people didn’t feel the burning. That was until the Grenfell investigation, where an investigator told the story of being on the line with someone who had died of smoke inhalation. He said he felt obligated to stay on the phone with her until the line went dead, even after she had fallen quiet and her breathing had become inaudible. Just before the line went dead, with the fire reaching her body, he said she began screaming in an agony he had never known. It was brief, perhaps 15 seconds, but can you image 15 seconds of that when you’d already been smothered? It’s one of the most horrifying things I’d ever read.

I've had a couple mishaps on an escalator myself, the first one was just bad luck, my shoelace (properly tied of course, it was just dangling too close), got caught in the escalator..but it didn't start getting pulled in, it just stayed there (I guess the inner workings didn't catch it, or the plates at the end kept it from going any further), took a couple tries, but I yanked it out, completely intact and went on my way. Now the second one, was my fault, I was groggy due to a cold(This was long before COVID-19), but decided to run up an escalator...well, I ended up tripping, I didn't faceplant on it luckily, but the pointy teeth on the step did leave a rather nasty wound on my palm...Train station attendant had to get the first aid kit and give it a clean and bandaid for that one (as well as a small lecture about running up Escalators).

My sister had her leg torn open by an escalator when she was very young (3-5) in a Sears in Burlington MA. We're not sure exactly how it happened, but it took a big chunk out of her right calf. It was in the middle of the escalator, and her leg somehow got caught in the gap between the stairs and the wall. She's fine now, but that was seriously scary stuff.

*Man, I sure do hate it when I get eaten by a staircase*

I remember coming back from a trip, we were in the Minneapolis airport, my coat got caught and I was falling up with luggage all around me until someone helped me up. My leg was totally messed up from foot to thigh, head trauma, and a lot of bruising.

I was on an escalator and looked at my notifications and saw this, I immediately started to take steps up one by one as fast as I could.

Someone: forgets to tie a shoe Escalator: *"Looks like meat is back on the menu, boys"*

I'm still astounded those kids managed to escape from Jurassic Park back in '93.

I fainted on a escalator once. I was halfway down and fell on top off 5 people. Apparently the last guy I landed on kinda threw me away from the bottom of the stairs (I also have really long hair so am thankful for the thst) i came to surrounded by people. My knees were pretty banged up but thanks to the cushioning of the crowded escalator I came out unscathed. Still scary tho.

The video of the mom dying in the escalator is so heart breaking =(

We had a case where a small child died bc climbing on an excalator and falling down here in Germany (you probably didn't find it bc of the language barrier). Other than that I think European escalators maybe be safer bc they have to be inspected regularly and the safety standart are much higher (I assume, I can't say that for sure).

Using the Metro in Miami, I've seen at least 7 people miss a step trying to run or walk on an escalator and get caught in the horrlarious (horrifying but hilarious) situation of what I call "falling up". They were falling down but the escalator was going up so they kinda just stayed at the same location. The worst was an older guy with Downs who had absolutely no idea what was going on and just froze up in the fetal position and cried until me and another guy managed to grab him and ride the thing to the top.

I remember I used to go to stores just to ride the escalators😂

They should just have flat conveyor belts on a shallow incline (like 5 to 10 degrees). They would be much simpler to build, way safer and even people who are wheelchair bound could use them. You can always have landings and turns to make it more compact if needed.

I’m never going on an escalator again. I will risk falling down a flight of stairs.

I had this childhood experience where i slipped before stepping to the escalator going down. Felt terrified and i hold the railings of escalators ever since

My grandmas friend had almost all of her hair ripped out when she fell down an escalator, my grandma just started using escalators again after not using them for 43 years

I remember one time at this place, there were these set of escalators that seemed twice as tall as most, almost three stories high. So on my path of descent, at the very top I tripped over my shoe laces but luckily managed to hold onto the side rails and prevent myself from falling. If I actually did fall, my god that would have been a long way down.

When I was 8 I got my sandal caught in the bottom of an escalator. I remember screaming and some man came over and pressed the emergency stop button. I’m still scared of escalators…

A year or two ago my grandmother fell down an escalator going up. Aside from a few bruises and scrapes, she was perfectly ok.

Already learned that with Final Destination

I still remember the day when my shoelaces got stuck in an escalator when I was a child and firemen had to rescue me. Til this day, even though I'm an adult, I still fear escalators and I always look for stairs first. I don't like elevators either.

For clarity sake. MMA fights almost never feature strangulation (the constriction of the air way). Likely what is being referred to is the "choke hold" which instead cuts off the blood flow to the brain for a near instant knock out.

I got too curious and watched the full video of the Chinese women getting caught in the escalator. There was no blood, but just seeing her getting dragged down was horrifying. I really regret watching that, so I would recommend you don't do it.

I remember when the lady fell into the Escalator and was able to toss her child off at the last second. Tragic

Ive been terrified of escalators since Final destination

We just had the anniversary for the fire and my mum recalls being on a train that passed through at the time and remembers people banging on the doors and windows begging the driver to stop the train but sadly they were instructed to keep moving at a restricted speed. Our escalators are now much safer!

I'm still super careful anytime I'm on an elevator and will take real stairs whenever I can. I'm a coordinated, athletic, able bodies 27 year old dude. Those moving teeth stairs just scare me

I've always been paranoid that I'd fall off of the escalator especially as a kid...still haunts me to think the consequences of if I ever did

I used to work at an airport and people got hurt on the escalators all the time. At least once a month. It was the most reported accident every year.

I remember once when I was 4 or something, I was fooling around on an escalator and FELL BACKWARDS. Somehow, there was a security guard standing behind me and somehow caught me. I got so lucky that one time.

When I was young I was in town with my nan. We were on the escalator but what we didnt notice was that my shoe laces weren't tied. When we got to the top of the escalator one of my laces got stuck at the top. But a man pressed the emergency stop button before it could take my foot (or leg) off. I've never forgotten that day.

Love this channel! Keep up the good work!

I love your channel keep up the great stuff

I’m not the only person who imagines this every time they go through an airport right?

I’m scared of elevators. My mom is scared of escalators. There’s a HUGE fight between us if there are no stairs.

I used to always have bad dreams about the escalators moving down so quickly and getting hurt really badly

The elevator fire was actually covered on an episode of forensic files if anyone wanted to check out how that went down in detail! I can't quite remember the name but it goes more in depth on the cause with alot of pictures and recreations of how thus actually happend its a very memorable episode (apart from its name lol) 100% should check out! (Edit: I accidentally clicked on the episode while trying to find a different one so for people wondering the episode is, Flashover season 8 ep 32!!!)

I never liked Escalators. Final Destination made that fear worse

I love the amount of research and presentation of these videos. It takes a lot of effort to make any type of video let alone something this envoled. Also the Narration of this video just makes something click in my brain. Great Job!

Earlier this year I witnessed an old lady taking a tumble when the elevator stuck for a second. She lost her balance and fell. The workers and I got her up and she kept apologizing because she was bleeding everywhere. Then we find out that she's diabetic. We cleaned her best as we could and tended to the wounds we could see and took care of her for a while. After waiting forever the ambulance finally arrived and she had more cuts on her ribs and thighs. I hope that she's okay and that they sued the store.

This has so much FINAL DESTINATION vibe in it.

I think many of us developed a fear of escalators from final destination

0:05 If you guys don't know the movie (Crhistine), then you're missing out.

honestly i've always been a lil worried about escalators and now i have even more reason to fear them-

"In death, there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes." - Bludworth (Final Destination 2000)

“Escalator possessed by the same malevolent spirit…” that possessed Travis Scott

Oh god, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of the last step, i always hop off so i dont get caught in it the escalator

My nana broke her knee on an escalator a few years ago. She literally just got on to go down and then realized where she needed to go was on the floor she was already on, so she turned around to step off and down she went hitting her knee. Lesson of that is don’t try and get off an escalator if you realize you don’t need to be on it. That happened a couple weeks before Christmas, and she wasn’t out of the hospital/rehab till the April

Well, a Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Not the topic I was expecting on a major Holiday like today, lol.

Another dangerous thing that people do on escalators (in malls or shops) is try carry stuff and not being able to hold the rail. I often seen people in one city center shop bring baby strollers up and down an escalator with the child in it.

As someone who loves them after watching this I’m scared

It’s funny because growing up I always looked forward to riding an escalator whenever I went to the mall or someplace like that

One time when I was five on an escalator, my shoelace got caught on the top of it but my mom realized really quickly and pressed the emergency stop button.

My biggest escalator fear is when the escalator suddenly goes fast

Was almost in one when I was only about 9 or 10yrs old after a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. I was GENUINELY scared. It's like "um, DAD, WHY AREN'T MOVING??" Gotta be a horrible thing to experience. 👍 to those who lived to talk 'bout it. R.I.P. to those who didn't.

When I was young I got a untied shoelace caught in a escalator. Thankfully it had a emergency stop button. Nearly 20 years later, I still am extra cautious on escalators and double check my shoelaces are tied! Update: I didn’t lose a leg and it wasn’t in Mexico

I've seen final destination before, you'll never catch me on one of these deathtraps lol

Thankful for the stairs

That scene from Final Destination 4 was just too much man.

I don't know if these still exist but when I was a kid that used to have escalator belts instead of stairs in some places picture like a treadmill that's the same size and length in at an angle as an escalator in hindsight it seems more dangerous but at the time it was less intimidating to for me then regular escalators

This is why I am always ready to react when I’m using an escalator or an elevator. Seen too many of these accidents happen online, it’s a horrible way to die. I remember always putting my hand in the brushes along the bottom of the escalator, I am lucky I never got seriously injured from it.

My biggest fear is getting my shoe ties stuck in an escalator lol.

I knew I wasn't the only one afraid of escalators as a kid at the mall...

In a mall here in the Philippines that is kind of a hotspot for people jumping or falling to their deaths, one teen jumped/fell and supposedly hit a outer part of an escalator before falling to a set of chairs. My concern is that it happened in 2019 yet the damage it still there.

could we terminate SCP-173 by literally making him roll down the longest escalator in the world?

It’s so terrifying and weird to think your shoe wouldn’t just be pulled off of your foot, or that you couldn’t undo a scarf in time, before you were strangled to death or lost a limb

0:35 WAS THAT THE BITE OF '87?!

*THIS IS WHY I AM ALWAYS SUPER CAUTIOUS OF ESCALATORS ALL THE TIME FROM BOTTOM TO TOP AND FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, JUST FOR THOSE 30 TO 60 SECONDS I AM SERIOUS AF. I DO NOT TOY WITH ESCALATORS. I ALWAYS KEEP MY HANDS ON THE RAILS IN CASE I HAVE TO DO AN EMERGENCY LIFT AND I ALWAYS LEAP OVER THE LAST TEETH. I DO NOT PLAY AROUND LIKE SOME IDIOTS DO. I VALUE MY LIFE AND HEALTH AND I TAKE THINGS SERIOUS.*

I'm 20. I still jump over or around the top panel. Started when I was about 8. It's still so engrained in my brain. I'm terrified of them

escalator=death confirmed by dirt scientists

When i was in england a staff at the train station place turned off the escalator for me because of how scared I was of escalators! To this day I am so grateful for him.

Sounds like these accidents escalated quickly

Person: *drops match onto wooden escalator* Escalator: *bursts into flames* Person: *surprised pikachu face*

Is THE worst way to die*

I never ride on escalators. I'm 52 and I've been on escalators less than 10 times and that was in my youth. This video just reinforces my decision to stay off of the evil things.

Hey pals how’s your Thanksgiving going so far?

Well, that escalated quickly.

📌🔥Thanks for this information video, we are currently experiencing the greatest transfer of wealth ever recorded in world history. Investment is the future

The final destination gave me the fear of escalators 🤣🤣

First

Reminds me of that one story where the escalator stopped working and the people on it was scared, thinking they were stuck.....on a escalator.....

My friend when he was a kid got his hand stuck at the top of an escalator once. Luckily someone was able to spot him and help him get his hand out. He would have lost his pinky if no one went to help him.

Thank you Infographics Show, I needed to know this

I once got my shoelaces stuck in the escalator somehow even though it was tied, probably it was too long. I got pulled down and panicked, nobody was closeby but fortunately, I pulled the lace so hard it snapped. Never knew how horrible the situation could be until this day. Gladly I escaped it or else it would be escalated tragically.

Who knew escalators can be such deadly machines.

When I was younger I was jumping while on an escalator and on of my jumps I tripped and fell backwards down the escalator, my whole back and both of my arms were scratched and my head needed stitches.

when i was 7 i went to the mall with my family and we went down an escalator this happened to be the first time i wore shoe laces that i had tied myself and as we were coming off the escalator, they went undone and got caught in the escalator. my entire foot almost got pulled in buy thankfully my uncle who was near me saw heard me screaming and pulled me out and off. ive been super careful around those things ever since, especially with shoe laces on

New fear unlocked: escalators

This brings back memories to escalator incidents many years ago.

Infographic is awesome!