Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

State officials are ordering a statewide investigation of escalators, after 4-year-old Mark DiBona fell two stories down an escalator in a Sears store at the Auburn Mall on Friday. The Dudley boy landed on a store display and sustained serious injuries during the Massachusetts escalator accident. He died the following day.

Earlier this week, two inspectors were suspended because they did not block off a gap at the top of the escalator. Although the gap should have only been 4 inches wide, it was 6 ¼ inches. A barricade should have been placed between the wall and the side of the escalator to restrict the opening’s size. All escalators that the two inspectors checked will be looked at again.

There are about 975 escalators in the state. Each one is inspected annually.

Escalator Accidents
Kids and elderly seniors are two of the groups most at risk of getting injured in an escalator accident. While some escalator accidents are caused by rider carelessness, still others are caused inadequate maintenance, escalator malfunction, or escalator defects. Our Boston injury lawyers can help you determine whether you have grounds for a case.

Common Boston escalator accidents include fall accidents, trip and fall incidents, and accidents involving a person’s shoe or shoelaces getting stuck on an escalator step. Escalator accident injuries may include:

• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Fractures
• Foot injuries
• Neck injuries
• Toe and Finger injuries
• Mental and emotional trauma

If you or someone you love was seriously injured in an escalator accident—depending on the specifics of your case, you may have grounds for a Boston personal injury or wrongful death case against the owner of the property where the escalator is located (for Boston premises liability), the manufacturer (for Massachusetts products liability), the company of maintaining the escalator, or other liable parties.

Inspectors Suspended After Fatal Escalator Fall, WCVB Boston, March 14, 2011

Boy, 4, dies after fall from store escalator in Auburn mall, Boston.com, March 13, 2011

Escalator Inspections Ordered Across Mass. After Boy’s Death, Boston, March 15, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Escalator Safety for Parents, Mass.gov

Auburn Mall

More Blog Posts:
Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages For Family of 82-Year-Old Who Was Strangled When Clothing Got Stuck on MBTA Escalator, Boston Injury Lawyer, November 4, 2009

MBTA Escalator Accident Sends Girl to Mass General Hospital, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, August 6, 2010

A judge has awarded the family of Jacob Freeman $6.8 million in Boston wrongful death damages. Freeman, a Northeastern University Student, died nearly four years ago after falling down a flight of stairs at Our House East, a Boston bar on Gainsborough Street.

In her Boston premises liability ruling, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Elizabeth M. Fahey noted that even though Freeman’s BAC was .208 when he fell down the stairs going to the basement in the early hours of April 1, 2007, the staircase was poorly lit, lacked a landing, possessed inadequate railings, and was hazardous in other ways. She also notes that vinyl stripes likely made it hard for Freeman to see that there was a staircase there.

Fahey says that she ordered Gainsboro Restaurant Inc. to pay damages on the grounds that not only did the bar ignore the safety hazards that the stairs presented—no repairs were made following two previous incidents of people falling there—but also for decades the bar had been violating the city’s permitting process, including never getting the permit required to run a bar.

Boston Stairwell Accidents
Fall accidents in stairwells can cause serious injuries, including spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, head trauma, back injuries, and neck injuries. It is the responsibility of property owners to make sure that there is proper lighting, sufficient handrails, a proper landing, and no slippery substances or objects on a step that can cause a Boston slip and fall or trip and fall accident. Also, any broken or uneven steps must be repaired.

A property owner can be held liable for a Boston fall accident down the stairs if his/her negligence/carelessness allowed or caused the injury accident to happen.

NU student’s kin awarded $6.7m, Boston.com, February 18, 2011

Related Web Resource:
Proving Fault in Accidents on Dangerous or Defective Property, Nolo

More Boston Injury Lawyer Blogs:
Boston, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against MIT and Delta Upsilon Fraternity for Student’s Fatal Fall, Boston Injury Lawyer Blogs, September 28, 2010

Man Suffers Head and Neck Injuries From Fall Down Fenway Park Stairs, Boston Injury Lawyer Blogs, August 5, 2010

Massachusetts Fall Accidents in Cambridge and Brookline Claim Two Lives, Boston Injury Lawyer Blogs, May 14, 2010