Throughout buildings in New York City, elevators are a common sight. Like any other piece of machinery, they must be serviced on a regular basis. While when maintained correctly, they usually work as intended, there are times when people are hurt as a result of the way in which the machine is operating. Recently a 12-year-old girl was injured when an elevator did not work as intended.
The girl suffered injuries described as serious when she fell down an elevator shaft. The 35 foot fall apparently occurred after someone used a drop key to open the elevator doors without the car being there. Thankfully, she is expected to survive.
The Department of Buildings has launched an investigation into the matter. This is not the first time that elevator has experienced issues. The DOB website indicates that another violation was uncovered late last year. As a result of that violation, once it was fixed the building had to pay a fine.
While it is unclear who opened the elevator door it is the responsibility of the owners of the buildings where the elevators are located to perform inspections and run basic checks on a regular basis. That individual will likely be uncovered in the course of the investigation that is being conducted related to the matter. Depending on who that individual is, the girl’s parents could decide to take legal action against that person or others responsible for the accident. If successful, it could provide compensation to the girl for the injuries she suffered.
Source: PIX11, “Dept. of Buildings looking at illegal ‘drop key’ use as cause of SoHo elevator accident,” Nicole Johnson, March 22, 2014
