Hi, my name is Melissa Davidson. I’m the managing attorney with Hankey Marks & Crider. I’m going to talk to you today about elevator injuries. They may be more common than you think. There’s several common ways that people are injured in elevators. One of those ways is by a door strike, where the door is closing when it’s not supposed to. Sometimes this happens because a sensor is not working properly. Some people are injured because the elevator moves as they are trying to exit or get on the elevator, or it may even drop suddenly causing other injuries. So, if you are injured in an elevator accident the thing to remember is to number one, report it right away to the people who manage the building. You will want to make note of which elevator you were in; there’s often a bank of elevators in building that may have three, or five, six elevators and people frequently forget which of those elevators they were in. So when you report it you might take note, there should be a number somewhere near or by the elevator which indicates which one you’re in.
The other thing to remember is to get treatment right away. Especially if you just think you are injured or maybe you’re not sure and you’re hurting because things can get worse over time. You don’t want to go home and wait too long and give the insurance company the ability to say “well we think this happened somewhere else.”
So my last tip for elevator injuries is to consult with an attorney that is familiar with the cases. Because in an elevator injury there can be numerous parties involved. There is not only the building manager, but also the people who maintain the elevators who are responsible to make sure that is functioning safely. If you have any kind of injury in an elevator, please call our office and we’ll be happy to help you sort out who’s responsible and what kind of damages you may have.