A disabled woman was injured in an elevator accident at a Belmont assisted living facility.
A disabled woman was hospitalized Tuesday after an elevator accident at the Leslie Terrace Assisted Living Facility in Belmont.
• A woman in an motorized wheelchair boarded an elevator in her assisted living facility. As soon as the doors closed, the elevator plunged the floor below.
• The automatic brake system jolted the elevator car to a stop, knocking the woman out of her chair and onto the floor.
• Firefighters had to extricate the woman from the elevator.
• The victim was hospitalized. Police said her injuries were not life-threatening.
The accident occurred shortly before 5 p.m., according to a report in the San Francisco Examiner.
The 67-year-old resident, who was in a motorized wheelchair, entered the elevator on the third floor of the building, located at 2400 Carlmont Drive. As soon as the doors closed, she told paramedics, the elevator started to descend — and then it suddenly plunged.
The automatic emergency brake system stopped the car just before the second floor, but the jolt threw the woman out of her wheelchair and onto the floor, ABC News reported.
Belmont police and firefighters were called to the scene, where emergency crews had to extricate the woman from the elevator. She was taken to a hospital to be treated for her injuries, which were not life-threatening, police said. The nature and severity of her injuries was not released.
California’s Division of Industrial Relations, which is responsible for elevator safety, dispatched investigators to the scene. Spokesperson Erika Monterroza said there are three elevators in the building. All three of them were inspected in September, she said. The agency planned to launch an investigation into the faulty elevator.
“We would probably not allow it to be used until we know exactly what happened,” she said.
Monterroza said elevator accidents are rare, even though two very high-profile fatal accidents have occurred last week. A Cal State Long Beach employee was crushed to death last week and another woman was crushed to death in a New York City office building the same day.
Elevator Accident Statistics
When an elevator or escalator has a design defect, the manufacturer is not required to send notices to anyone other than the equipment owners, according to Consumer Watch. The media and general public rarely find out about faulty elevators until major injuries or deaths occur.
About 10,200 people are injured every year on faulty U.S. elevators, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. At least 27 are killed.
The underlying cause of elevator accidents, according to Cosumer Watch, is typically one or several malfunctions, including:
- Pulley system malfunctions that cause an elevator to drop rapidly within the shaft
- Faulty doors that allow passengers to fall into an open shaft
- Faulty wiring or elevator control malfunctions that may cause electrocution
- Incomplete repairs, maintenance, or inspections by unqualified personnel
- Unbalanced leveling and the failure of the elevator to line up with the floor
- Wiring malfunction or entrapment due to the heat from fire or water from emergency sprinklers or hoses
California Elevator Accident Lawyers
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented elevator accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
