I don’t have a fear of escalators, its more like a healthy respect for the damage they can do; I haven’t had an escalator trauma, either, but I’m always wary of them, and this news story is why.

Escalator.
Flickr user: *Sally M*
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A 48 year old woman in Montreal was KILLED when first her scarf and then her hair got caught in the teeth of the escalator in a metro station; her scarf ultimately strangled her. In case you’re thinking it could never happen to you, the American Academy of Pediatrics says around 2,000 escalator injuries occur every year; granted, most of them aren’t serious, but still, the potential is there. In the Montreal story, police believe the woman’s scarf got caught in the escalator first, then when she leaned down to try and free it, her hair got caught. The woman was in cardiac arrest when the EMTs got there. There’s a local angle to this as well; the family of 10 year old Juliana Valdez is suing Macy’s because she lost two toes in an escalator at their Garden State Plaza store. A Wantage girl lost a toe on the escalator at Macy’s store in Paramus Park.

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