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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Monday, September 17, 2007 - 1:06 pm
I thought articles like this worthy of a special thread: Got Crocs? Be Careful on the Escalator By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 17, 2007 Filed at 3:17 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- At rail stations and shopping malls around the world, reports are popping up of people, particularly young children, getting their toes caught in escalators. The one common theme seems to be the clunky soft-soled clogs known by the name of the most popular brand, Crocs. Four-year-old Rory McDermott got a Croc-clad foot caught in an escalator last month at a mall in northern Virginia. His mother managed to yank him free, but the nail on his big toe was almost completely ripped off, causing heavy bleeding. At first, Rory's mother had no idea what caused the boy's foot to get caught. It was only later, when someone at the hospital remarked on Rory's shoes, that she began to suspect the Crocs and did an Internet search. ''I came home and typed in 'Croc' and 'escalator,' and all these stories came up,'' said Jodi McDermott, of Vienna, Va. ''If I had known, those would never have been worn.'' According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some report the shoes get caught in the ''teeth'' at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator. The reports of serious injuries have all involved young children. Crocs are commonly worn by children as young as 2. The company introduced shoes in its smallest size, 4/5, this past spring. In Japan, the government warned consumers last week that it has received 39 reports of sandals -- mostly Crocs or similar products -- getting stuck in escalators from late August through early September. Most of the reports appear to have involved small children, some as young as two years old. Kazuo Motoya of Japan's National Institute of Technology and Evaluation said children may have more escalator accidents in part because they ''bounce around when they stand on escalators, instead of watching where they place their feet.'' In Singapore, a 2-year-old girl wearing rubber clogs -- it's unclear what brand -- had her big toe completely ripped off in an escalator accident last year, according to local media reports. And at the Atlanta airport, a 3-year-old boy wearing Crocs suffered a deep gash across the top of his toes in June. That was one of seven shoe entrapments at the airport since May 1, and all but two of them involved Crocs, said Roy Springer, operations manager for the company that runs the airport terminal. One U.S. retailer that caters to children, Mattel subsidiary American Girl, has posted signs in three locations directing customers wearing Crocs or flip-flop sandals to use elevators instead of escalators. During the past two years, so-called ''shoe entrapments'' in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer, though none has caused serious injuries, said Dave Lacosse, who oversees the subway's 588 escalators, the most of any U.S. transit system. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said escalator accidents caused more than 10,000 injuries last year, but the agency has few records of specific shoe problems. Only two shoe entrapments have been reported by consumers since the beginning of 2006. One reported in May involved ''rubber footwear.'' Agency spokesman Ed Kang urged people who have had problems to report them on the commission's Web site. Crocs officials said they were working with the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation on public education initiatives. But the group's executive director, Barbara Allen, said that's not true. link
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Azriel
Member
08-01-2000
| Monday, September 17, 2007 - 10:43 pm
Maris, I just read this article and was coming here to make a thread titled "Buyers Beware" about the crocs. I saw your thread and thought well someone has already made a thread with that title, but it would still probably be a good place to post the croc article, then I see that the thread is about the croc article. That freaked me out! 
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, September 17, 2007 - 11:12 pm
Very freaky, both the Crocs phenomenon and the fact that both Maris and Azriel were using the same title.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 3:23 am
GMTA - I guess. Well I know that George Clooney loves his crocs, I hope he reads this because I wouldnt want a precious toe of his damaged. It is a bizarre story Oh and Dole recalled all its salads with a sell by date of September 19, 2007. So dont eat the stuff
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 4:28 am
Criminy. Salads again? Sure sux being a vegetarian these days!
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 8:50 am
Maybe I'm paranoid but I always watch our kids' feet on escalators and have very clearly taught them how to properly use an escalator. It is a very good warning to parents though.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 9:01 am
Jimmer move over on that paranoia couch!
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Panda
Member
07-15-2005
| Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 1:41 pm
I always worry about my shoe getting stuck on an escalator! This same article was posted on my Birth Club message board!
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 10:37 pm
Herckleperkle, I thought we should move my ranting about shopping out of the health thread and I wanted to make sure I thanked you for your kind offer of assistance. You're too sweet. That is an excellent idea but then I am paying for shipping twice if I do that and by the time I do that I can find something cheaper here. Being gouged for shipping is just one of the cons of living in Alaska. Don't even get me started about the ones who won't ship to Alaska at all because they only ship UPS ground and that is not available here. They are lazy retailers who apparently have too much money already. I would like to compliment Target for their excellent customer service and retailing practices. Target not only shipped at minimal shipping costs but it arrived quickly, well packed and I received an email afterwards to make sure I was happy with my purchases. Not a single other company I've dealt with has done that. Hurray for Target!!
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Monday, November 26, 2007 - 2:10 pm
I thought about the Croc warning on Saturday when I had to use the escalators in the port of Miami with heavy luggage. I turned my foot so that it wouldn't get stuck. Yes, I wore Crocs on vacation. They were great for the beach.
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