3 ms·
They don’t stop at floors: you have to time it right and step in or out fast enough to avoid falling too far or getting crushed. My mother’s workplace had one
by bboreham 9y ago
They don’t stop at floors: you have to time it right and step in or out fast enough to avoid falling too far or getting crushed.
My mother’s workplace had one when I was about seven, and I was terrified even to think about it.
- enriquto 9y agoI know how they work, it's just that they don't seem more dangerous than other things in my daily commute (walking on a subway platform next to many people, walking on a street filled with cars, etc). It seems almost impossible to get accidentally hurt by a paternoster, unless you try to.
- throwaway1X2 9y agoI guess it's that people are walking since their first months after being born, so they are pretty good at it and even when you are older, unwell, intoxicated, etc., unless you are dancing on the edge of subway platform or right on the curb, you are generally pretty safe even in traffic. Compare that to jumping on and off platforms moving vertically, that's pretty new. I had a go on this a long time ago, the building was empty on Saturday and they turned the elevator on just for us who were having a programming competition there. We rode in circles, went over the top and jokingly returned in handstands, jumped on and off on each floor... And while they are generally pretty safe - each platform in upward shaft and in the cabin was on hinges, each top of the "door"frame and top of the cabin had a hanging piece of wood and if any of these things were moved, the elevator would stop, so your feet or other body parts won't be crushed if stuck between the cabin and the frame. But still, you can hurt yourself pretty badly (think broken bones or head injury) just from slipping or falling forward/backward if you try to step on or off too soon or too late. Being twenty-somethings, we had a great fun on them, but if you think of people you see daily moving on escalators, in the mall, on the pavement, you can pretty easily see that an older person or a less coordinated person may have a problem with them. Btw. For the brave out there, there is also an industrial "version" called belt manlift. Dying on them is pretty easy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kPOxeV2lzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kPOxeV2lzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdL_st3FFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdL_st3FFw