Over the top video {fails to} earn 96 million yen

[Taro Toporific]

The family of Satoshi Katayama (then 45) was awarded 96 million yen from Katayama's death by being pulled over the edge of a multi-story escalator in Minato, Tokyo in 2009.
More info in Japanese: http://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000003986.html

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東京地裁は19日、両親の訴えを退けました

[yanpa]

The family of Satoshi Katayama (then 45) was awarded 96 million yen from Katayama's death by being pulled over the edge of a multi-story escalator in Minato, Tokyo in 2009.

Shurely that should read "was not awarded"?

東京地裁は19日、両親の訴えを退けました

[Taro Toporific]

The family of Satoshi Katayama (then 45) was awarded 96 million yen from Katayama's death by being pulled over the edge of a multi-story escalator in Minato, Tokyo in 2009.

Shurely that should read "was not awarded"?

東京地裁は19日、両親の訴えを退けました
(The 19th District Court of Tokyo has rejected the appeal of the parents of Satoshi Katayama...)

Oops. My bad.
It should read, "FALLS IN EARNING 96 MILLION YEN".

[wagyl]

東京地裁は19日、両親の訴えを退けました
(The 19th District Court of Tokyo has rejected the appeal of the parents of Satoshi Katayama...)

Oops. My bad.
It should read, "FALLS IN EARNING 96 MILLION YEN".

Not only that, but you really should not rely of Google Translate, not even miniature versions which put out minute fonts. Rather than being the 19th District Court, it is that the District Court, on the 19th,...

[Coligny]

So, he got the flouz or not ?
Because as much as i luve to page Sir Darwin... I'm pretty sure escalator are not supposed to act like purpose build death traps. Even if you bow too close to them or turn your back without showing the proper decorum...
It's not even a behaviour from machinerie that would be easily accepted in a workshop or a shipyard...

[wagyl]

Well, the chap in question can't get anything, he is already dead.

The District Court denied the claim. The reasons stated are that the death was found to be the result of the deceased intentionally leaning on the handrail, and that the building management was not in breach of safety standards because it is not usually expected that someone will lean on the handrail. The parents of the deceased are indicating that they are considering appealing the decision.

Like all these decisions, I think this is probably a balancing act between the level of the danger and risk, and the cost of countermeasures. I would guess that there is nothing special about that escalator which makes it any more dangerous than all the other escalators in the country. And these kinds of deaths, although tragic, do not happen very often at all. What do you do to prevent this accident, which doesn't add a different danger into the environment? Do you then start putting barrier fences along every road in the country, because there are far more deaths from pedestrians getting into fights with cars. Do you kill all wasps in the country? Actually, that last one would be a good idea.

[yanpa]

For anyone else confused about this, what I think happened was the guy was on the 2nd floor, not the escalator itself, and somehow backed into the moving handrail where it wraps around the top.of the escalator. Presumably this was the down escalator, so it somehow flipped him up and backwards over the edge. I wonder if it was a Schindler escalator

Given the timestamp on the still, one could speculate that alcohol might also have been a factor....

[Coligny]

Expecting loose clothing to not get cought into machinery that are publicly accessible seems to be reasonable... (*)
It could have been kids fingers getting chopped.

There is a huge difference between morons fucking around and getting dead in the process. And a guy sort of leaning on a gardrail... That are by definition supposed to primarily be safety features/apparatus.

It's like getting beheaded by your seatbelt if you crash because she was resting a little to high on your chest. When your engineers are so incompetent as to make a safety feature lethal without purposefull tampering or unexpected use/misuse, it's time to fire your team, burn the blueprints and go back to square one.

(*) And that's a perfect example because one of the primary safety rules in a heavy masheen tool workshop is not to wear loose clothing or long hairs. Lathe are notoriously hungry for people wearing loose stuff...

[Coligny]

the video at around 1:04 really look like something got trapped on the guardrail track.

[wagyl]

Playing devil's advocate for a while here, do you think, Coligny, that there is anything about the design of this escalator which is more dangerous than any other escalator? Is there an inherent danger manifest in this escalator alone?
Assuming your answer to the above is "No," what safety features should be added to avoid this accident? Does that suggested safety feature add any other, collateral risks? Why do none of the other escalators have the suggested safety feature either, if this is a so readily foreseen and so easily prevented accident? (A sad, but realistic factor is also "What does this safety feature cost, in comparison to the level of risk if not implemented?") And shouldn't we deal with that wasp problem first?

[Coligny]

Nope, I just think their might be a gap too wide between the rubber band top handrail and its track that allowed fabric to get cought. Or the implementation might not be done according to the manufacturer's spec. The gap between the static gardrail and the elevator rail seeming a bit too wide too, and might have justified the movable poles on each sides...

Now if you think i'm playing devil's advocate for suggesting that elevator stairs should not be lethal for clumsy peeple...