Lady considers suing Quail Springs

Patrick · 08-13-2004, 12:55 AM

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."

**okcpulse** · 08-13-2004, 01:35 AM

Actually, I worked at a jewelry store at Quail Springs Mall for over a year. The stop buttons at the end of the escalators ARE clearly marked. So clearly marked in fact that the behemoth crowds of teenagers love to pull pranks on the mall by hitting the emergency stop button on the escalators. We had an escalator stopped every day. It is crystal clear this woman had her head up her a**.

As a matter of fact, this was a common occurence. There is an indoor playground located right next to where I worked. The store I once worked in was completely open, so we could see everything. At least once a day, a child would come running in from the playground with the mother chasing after him, talking on her cell phone. Some mothers get so involved with socializing that they stop watching their children altogether. I've had to track a child down once, who made it all the way to The Disney Store before the mother even realized he was gone!!! Who noticed the child was gone? Not the mom, but someone else. I've seen mall security chew out several moms for thinking they could leave their children there alone unsupervised while they go shop. Has this "playground" done a lot of good? Well, let's put it this way... it makes it real obvious which people are the idiot parents!

Patrick · 08-13-2004, 01:43 AM

That's what I thought OKC Pulse. The same thing happens at Penn Square all the time. Tennagers sneekily push the buttons to stop the escalator. The problem was so bad at Penn square that I've noticed mall management has taped down covers over the stop buttons to keep kids from more easily opening the covers and turning off the escalator.
Anyways, the stop buttons are located on each end of the escalators.

Obviously, this isn't the only problem that's happened at Quail Springs recently. I overheard that a child was injured a few weeks ago at Quail Springs beause the parents were trying to take a stroller down the escalator. The stroller got caught and the child got dumped out of the stroller and hit his head. I've noticed that now the mall has placed large signs on the tile before you get on the escalator that say "No strollers." You know, that just goes to show you how dumb people are, if you have to put up a sign saying that. People just need to stop being so lazy and use the elevator if they're pushing a stroller. Afterall, it's for the safety of their children.

You make a good point about the playground. I recently asked Penn Square why they hadn't installed a play ground. They told me they've considered putting one in the Foley's Court area, but so far they've decided against it because they didn't want to deal with the liability issues. It's sad, but true.

A lot of parents simply don't watch their kids anymore.....not sure if it's out of pure laziness or just lack of interest. Regardless, if parents aren't going to take the responsibility to watch their kids, they don't need to have kids in the first place.

**okcpulse** · 08-13-2004, 01:47 AM

Amen to that, Patrick. And I think it's both lack of interest AND laziness on the parents' behalf. I'll quote an elderly actor (don't know his name) in the motion picture 'She's Having A Baby'...

"People don't mature anymore. They stay jackasses all their lives."

Rent the movie. You will laugh!

Patrick · 08-13-2004, 01:49 AM

Thanks for the info. I was actually looking for a good movie to rent this weekend....I might pick that one up!

**okcpulse** · 08-13-2004, 02:02 AM

No prob. Enjoy... it was released in 1987 so it's sort of an oldie... and although this is off the subject of the frivilous lawsuit... since both this film and 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' are both John Hughes films, they are both interlinked.

In "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", Steve Martin's wife is watching a scene from 'She's Having A Baby'. And also in 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' Steve Martin races Kevin Bacon's 'She's Having A Baby' character (Jefferson Briggs) to a taxi cab, and Kevin Bacon does the same salute in both movies.