Unsafe escalator Causes Death of Man

Due to the negligent maintenance of a public elevator, a man was strangled to death.

A 42-year-old man was in a downtown Seattle bus terminal early one Sunday morning; near the bottom of the escalator, he apparently lost his balance and fell. His shirt was caught in the moving escalator teeth; the fabric of his shirt was slowly tightened until it strangled him.

Eyewitnesses called 911, but no one was able to provide a knife or other sharp instrument which might have helped to cut the man loose. He was deceased by the time paramedics and the police arrived on the scene. The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries then presumably attended the scene to investigate the cause for the gruesome accident.

According to reports, the man might have been drinking prior to the accident; he was spotted walking unsteadily on the escalator and had in his possession a bottle of brandy. Regardless of his state of inebriation, there were maintenance problems with the equipment. In fact, there were numerous known issues that needed to be dealt with in regards to the escalator: ensuring the stop switch worked; fixing demarcation lights; replacing broken teeth; keeping the maintenance journal up-to-date; annual cleaning, and more. These items had been flagged during a safety inspection in December. None of the safety issues were addressed by Metro Transit at the time of the man’s death.

The man’s family may wish to contact a personal injury attorney and find out what they need to do in order to file a wrongful death lawsuit. These suits are often initiated by the deceased’s relatives to ensure nothing like this happens to anyone. In short, the suit would send a message that necessary maintenance must be performed to keep such equipment in good operational order and safe.
The family may face financial difficulties in trying to deal with the man’s funeral and burial expenses and would have a difficult time paying all of their bills. One solution for them would be to apply for lawsuit funding, once they have hired a lawyer. The process for applying for pre-settlement funding is easy and only takes a few minutes, either online or by phone.

A lawsuit cash advance is given to a plaintiff in advance of their case going to settlement or court. Once their application has been approved, the lawsuit loan is sent directly to their bank account, where they may access it to pay pressing bills. Once they have the funding in the bank, they do not need to deal with any insurance companies that would try and get them to settle for less than what they would likely be awarded in court. Litigation funding is often the one best advantage a plaintiff has to level the playing field.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit http://www.litigationfundingcorp.com/.

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