Escalator Fears Come to Life

By Joanna Miller in News on Apr 10, 2006 7:17PM

Chicagoist has always been a little afraid of escalators. When we were younger, we heard the stories about the kids who got their shoelaces stuck in the escalator at the mall and got sucked into the contraption's snarly teeth.

Although this was probably just a ploy by our parents to get us to keep our shoelaces tied, the image of the little kids stuck in the escalator just never went away. But we usually face our fear and join the masses on the scary moving stairs every day when we get off the train. Why? Because laziness trumps fear, every time.

Well, until now. On Friday morning, the escalator at the Jackson Blue Line subway station malfunctioned.

Despite early reports that the escalator reversed itself, the CTA would not confirm this, citing a safety mechanism that is supposed to prevent it from going backward. At least one rider begged to differ. Whatever the “malfunction,” three of the dozens of people riding the escalator were injured and taken to the hospital.

The CTA may not be willing to admit that the escalator reversed itself, but it did begin to inspect more than a dozen system escalators following the accident. Just to be sure.

Us? We took the stairs this morning. But we’ll see how long that lasts.

Clybourn Escalator via DCE