It's Escalator/Elevator Safety Awareness Week

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OVER THE SUMMER, a family was riding down the long escalator bank at the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan station. A man steadied a baby stroller with the child still inside. The woman sat down with the other kids. Both actions are big Metro no-nos.

Transit personnel happened to be riding up the escalators at the same time. "Ma'am, you gotta stand up," they shouted, "No sitting!"

The man yelled back: "C'mon, she's a mother!"

Whether passengers are moms, kids or grandparents, there are good reasons why they shouldn't be sitting on escalators, Metro says: The metal teeth and moving parts at the bottom and sides of escalators that can catch clothing, shoelaces and other objects. (And riding with a baby stroller at a 45-degree angle is self-evidently dangerous, isn't it?)

This week, Metro is hosting a series of events for National Escalator/Elevator Safety Awareness Week to remind riders of the safety precautions they should take when using the mechanical people-movers. The safety reminders come as the transit agency has been seeing an increase in "shoe entrapments," with Crocs, flip flops and other soft-soled shoes largely to blame.

The events are scheduled at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station on Tuesday from 8 a.m.-9 a.m., the Metro Center station on Wednesday from 8 a.m.-9 a.m. and Union Station on Thursday from 4 p.m.-5 p.m.

While Metro officials told The Post's Lena H. Sun this summer that they've had only minor shoe-entrapment injuries, transit agencies and other groups with escalators are fully aware of the dangers. In Atlanta, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, which operates the city's rail system, is facing a lawsuit after a man died from strangulation after his clothes became ensnared by an escalator.

EARLIER:
» "Another Reason Not to Wear Flip Flops" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Boy Wearing Crocs on Escalator Has Toenail Ripped Off" [WRC/NBC4]
» "Crocs Can Pose a Danger on Escalators" [ABC News]
» "Escalator Death Lawsuit" [WSB Radio]

Photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post