The NY Times ran an article today about how 5-year old Jacob Neuman, who was on his way to school with his brother, Israel, 8, both got stuck in the elevator ten floors up in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn public housing complex where they lived. The elevator door opened because of a malfunction and the boys were then able to manually open the outer door for the 10th floor below, and when Jacob tried to jump onto that floor, he ended up falling 120 feet to his death.
The article is noteworthy because it details ongoing safety issues with NYC public housing elevators.
For instance, the door malfunction, along with the power cut-off for the elevator, occurred because of misalignment and wear and tear of electrical contacts in the motor room control panel. In addition, the elevator, a 21-year old machine, had previously failed numerous safety inspections. The article also stated:
Elevator experts said that even after the two failures in the control panel, the accident could have been avoided had the elevator been equipped with a relatively inexpensive safety device widely used in New York City. These devices, known as door or zone restrictors, prevent people trapped inside stuck elevators from opening the cab doors to escape. The devices lock the cab door when an elevator is not even with a floor landing and prevent anyone from opening the door more than four inches.
The elevator that Jacob and Israel were in did not have a door restrictor, as the accident report noted. The Housing Authority was not required by the city to have one. The elevator was installed in December 1986, when door restrictors were not a city requirement. Restrictors are now required on all newly installed and renovated elevators.
My firm has represented clients who were injured in elevator accidents. Most of the time, negligent maintenance and the failure to design the elevator with proper safety devices, or a combination of the two, is the culprit.
The problem with some regulations is that they only apply prospectively, as this one did. Generally, the reason for this is the factors of cost and feasibility. But incidents like this death of a 5-year old boy certainly warrant tougher, more all-encompassing regulations. All elevators should be retro-fitted to contain the restrictor device. Accidents like this should not happen.
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