Escalators May Be Dangerous to Crocs

By Pamela Mortimer

Shopping malls and subway stations around the world have been releasing reports detailing an increasing number of people being injured by getting their toes caught in escalators. The victims, particularly children, who seem to be unaware of the tops of the escalators tend to get their toes pinched by the teeth at the top or along the sides of the moving stairs, often causing moderate injury. The common thread in these stories revolves around the specific type of shoe, a soft soled clog most commonly known by the brand name "Crocs". The Washington Metro, one of the largest subways in the U.S., has posted warnings to riders about wearing this type of shoe on escalators. The warning poster features the picture of a crocodile but does not mention the popular shoe by name.

At a mall in northern Virginia last month, four-year-old Rory McDermott got a Croc-clad foot caught in an escalator. The boy’s mother managed to free him, but the nail on his big toe was almost completely ripped off, causing heavy bleeding.

At first, Rory's mother didn’t know what had caused the accident. Later, when someone at the hospital remarked on Rory's shoes, she wondered if the Crocs were the cause and did an Internet search.

"I came home and typed in 'Croc' and 'escalator,' and all these stories came up," said Jodi McDermott, of Vienna, Va. "If I had known, those would never have been worn."

Young children seem to be at the center of the reports of serious injuries. Crocs, or shoes in a similar style, are commonly worn by children as young as 2 years old. The smallest sized shoe, 4/5, was released this past spring.

Crocs Inc., a Colorado-based company, said it is aware of "very few" problems involving their product, which is made of a soft, synthetic resin.

"Thankfully, escalator accidents like the one in Virginia are rare," the company said in a statement.

Last week, the Japanese government revealed that it has received 39 reports of sandals — mostly Crocs or similar products — getting stuck in escalators from late August through early September.

Kazuo Motoya of Japan's National Institute of Technology and Evaluation said that children are apt to have more accidents in part because they "bounce around when they stand on escalators, instead of watching where they place their feet."

In Singapore, a 2-year-old girl wearing a type of rubber clogs had her big toe completely severed in an escalator accident last year.

In June, a 3-year-old boy wearing Crocs suffered a deep gash across the top of his toes at the Atlanta airport. That accident was one of seven "shoe entrapments" that occurred at the airport since May 1.

Over the past two years, "shoe entrapments" in the Washington Metro have gone from being fairly rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer, though none has caused serious injuries, according to Dave Lacosse, who oversees the subway's 588 escalators.

Lacosse and other escalator experts say those who use escalators should face the direction in which the stairs are moving, keep feet away from the sides and remember to step over the metal teeth at the top.

Lacosse says he is personally skittish of soft-soled shoes, including Crocs.

"Would I wear them? No," he said. "And I tell my children not to wear them either."