Crocs are Unsafe for Riding Escalators!

This is not the first time an accident involving children, escalators and rubber clogs has happened.

14,200 search results turned out when I typed “crocs,escalator,injury” on Google. My three-year-old daughter’s toe injury caused by her right Croc getting caught in the side of an escalator is not an isolated case, and many more injuries could follow unless substantial solutions are delivered at the soonest possible time.

Parents, mall operators, and the company or companies behind the manufacture and sale of Crocs footwear should act immediately to put an end to the disturbing number of accidents involving Crocs and escalator mechanisms.

What happens is that the slip-resistant quality of the footwear, ironically the same quality that ranks among its unique selling points, causes it to adhere to the side of a moving escalator upon contact. Resulting injuries have ranged from simple scratches to toes being actually ripped off. (I found a collection of news stories on http://crocsaccidents.blogspot.com. That there is such a site should speak for the gravity of the situation.)

There is no point in raising arguments along the lines of escalators being inherently dangerous for children, or of the possibility of similar accidents with every other kind of footwear, or of parents being solely responsible for the safety of their children when under their care. The fact is that so many children have been hurt because the traction of their clogs is unsuitable for escalators. This danger had come to our attention prior to the accident involving my very own daughter, which is why we are always very careful when making her ride the escalator with her Crocs on. She even constantly recites the line “stay on the center,” as we always remind her to do so. But it just took a millisecond for us to fall victim to an already familiar mishap. Being careful just wasn’t enough.

Parents, stop making your children wear Crocs in malls. Believe me when I say that you can never be too careful when it comes to the nasty combination of Crocs and escalators.

Mall operators, adopt more child-friendly measures. Post visible notices on the dangers of wearing rubber clogs on escalators. Make known the presence of emergency stop buttons. Make your security guards aware of the alarming number of escalator accidents and train them to render urgent responses. This is not just token advocacy; this actually makes good business sense.

To the company or companies manufacturing and selling Crocs, mark your products accordingly. Indicate that they are not safe for riding escalators because, really, they aren’t. Stop saying that they are completely safe. You owe this to the children who love your shoes. My daughter owns three pairs of Crocs— a pair of Caymans, a pair of Athens and a pair of Mary Janes. That’s how she likes wearing those clogs. Even the first words that came out of her mouth after her tiny scream of pain were, “My Crocs! My Crocs!”.

Andie is fine now. After the accident, which happened in Megamall at around 9pm of August 19, we rushed her to the Medical City where she got the proper treatment for her wounds (no quick first aid response in the mall, we had to run from building B to building A where we were parked… but that’s another issue), x-rays of both her feet, and a tetanus shot. All her toes are intact and the wounds she got were merely superficial, thank God. With the way her right foot bled and with the hideous torn and deformed state of her Crocs right after the accident, we thought the injury would be much worse.

But will she ride the escalator again with as much self-confidence as she’s always had before the accident? We pray that she does. Trauma is not healed with a simple wound dressing and tetanus shot.

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Please help us spread the word. Let's be makulit. The world should be getting safer, not the other way around. No more injuries caused by Crocs and escalators!