Okay, I'm just about sick of parents not watching their children. I found this article in today's Oklahoman. Apparently a child was severely injured on an escalator at Quail Springs Mall. In all reality, the reason the child was injured, was because the child was squatting on the escalator, and his sweat pants got caught at the bottom of the escalator. His mother should've made him stand up like a normal kid, instead of allowing him to goof off on the escalator. The mom blames the mall, saying that better guards could be placed to cover the bottom of the escalator, and the stop botton could be more clearly marked. The mom said that she may have to sue the mall to get their attention, because she hasn't seen that anything has been done to correct the problem. Actually, truth is, the mall's escalators are just fine, and there's nothing wrong with them. It's a known fact, that if you put something down into the escalator it can get caught. Duh!

Several years ago a similar occurrence happened at Penn Square. Kids were screwing around on the escalators, and one child fell from the escalator down two floors in center court. The mother blamed the mall, saying that the escalators weren't marked correctly with warning signs. She sued the mall for millions. Well, she lost, and the court said it was the mother's fault for not watching her children appropriately, but the mall was still out money in legal costs.

This sucks!

Here's the link to the article in case you want to see the News 9 video that goes with it.

Here's the article:


"Mall escalator injures boy


By Jennifer Pierce
NEWS 9


An escalator at a metro mall tore into this four-year-old boy.



Now, he lives with a daily reminder of the accident.

And his mom wants to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.

Almost a year ago a normal trip to Quail Springs Mall turned into a nightmare for Tracey Myers and her four-year-old son, Brennan.

Four-year-old Brennan Myers calls it his owie.

His mom Tracey calls it a painful reminder of an accident that could have been much worse.

Last October, Tracey and Brennan were at Quail Springs Mall. Brennan was squatting on the bottom of the escalator.

Tracey says she had no idea how to turn the escalator off, so it kept turning with Brennan caught in it.

Brennan was eventually cut from the jaws of the escalator.

Brennan had cuts and first degree burns on his bottom.

Nearly a year later, the cuts and burns have healed, but Brennan says his owie still hurts every once in a while.

His mom is upset that his injuries could have been prevented had some kind of safety guard been over the bottom of the escalator, or a more visible stop button.

Quail Springs Mall management says the mall escalators are inspected regularly and have safety features, and says parents should stay with their children from the time they enter the escalator to the time they get off. We talked to an EMSA EMT who says escalator injuries are more common than you think.

In fact, 7,000 people nationwide are injured on escalators every year."