Miami International Airport Allowed Disabled Safety Devices On Elevators
Elevator injury lawsuits. You don’t hear a lot about them in the news. That’s largely because elevators are rather safe, except in the movies, unless the building is on fire. Having redundant safety features, as they do, this prevents the elevator from dropping multiple stories with passengers inside. That is, unless you are in the Miami International Airport where those safety features have been disabled.
Miami-Dade County’s deputy chief elevator inspector expressed astonishment that the safety features on the airport’s escalators and elevators had been disabled. The company responsible for managing the elevators, Oracle Elevator Co., is accused of deliberately disabling the safety features which, as the elevator inspector pointed out, is a violation of building codes and the law.
While no one was injured by this negligence, elevator injury lawsuits do happen.
Elevator accident injury lawsuits
Elevator accident injury lawsuits are filed under premises liability claims. Since the company that maintains the property (in this case, Miami-Dade County) is tasked with maintaining safe premises, their failure can be held against them in a civil lawsuit. Further, the company that is tasked with maintaining the elevators on behalf of the county could have been held liable if anyone was injured for their failure to adhere to standard building codes.
Types of elevator accidents include:
- Power outage accidents – If the power goes out in a building where there are elevators, the folks inside get stuck. They then attempt to open the doors themselves and see if they can slip onto the floor. In some cases, folks have died trying to escape elevators. Elevators now have safety features that prevent a misleveled elevator door from opening.
- Elevator door accidents – Elevator doors are jerry-rigged to open if they come into contact with someone, but the safety measure doesn’t always work resulting in injured limbs and crush injuries.
- Elevator fall accidents – Elevators are held up by steel cords, but if they fall, they can cause serious injuries. These injuries are more often reported on freight elevators.
- Elevator stop accidents – Elevators should decelerate smoothly. Sometimes, they decelerate suddenly. This can result in injury.
The vast majority of those injured aboard elevators are on-the-job at the time of their injuries. However, injuries to the public do occur and these often occur as a result of safety lapses in maintenance. For that reason, the owner of the property can be held liable as well as the maintenance company tasked with ensuring the safety and proper functioning of the elevator. Wrongful death, crush, and fall injuries are among the most common injuries reported.
Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you’ve been injured due to an elevator injury or any other building code violation, call the Miami personal injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. today to schedule a free consultation and allow us to begin building your case immediately.
Resource:
miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article251329318.html
