Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Elevators have safety mechanisms to lower the risk of the car falling. Traction elevators have cables with counterweights, brakes and devices called governors, which control speed and stop the car if it starts to move too quickly. Elevators have multiple mechanisms to cover for others that break. Hydraulic elevators sit on a platform that rises, so unless the platform fails, the car shouldn’t go into a long-distance free-fall.
Don’t exceed the weight limit of an elevator; this places stress on the lifting mechanism and can cause it to fail. Try not to rush into or out of an elevator where the doors are already closing; even though elevator doors have sensors that should make the doors reopen, those can break as well. Always look where you are going and ensure you are stepping with enough clearance over the threshold in case the car hasn’t stopped at the correct level; move slowly if you are feeling sick or dizzy to avoid tripping.
It sounds obvious, but ensure the car is actually there before you step in. It is possible to fall into an empty elevator shaft if the car is not at the proper floor when the doors open. WABC reported that this happened in the Bronx in March 2010, to a man who had been using a freight elevator. Don’t linger in the doors; if the car arrives but malfunctions, it can drop a number of feet, pinning you in the doorway against the roof of the car or crushing you as the car moves. This is especially important if the car has stalled; it can restart without warning and possibly drop, again hurting you if you are caught in the door opening, trying to get out. Wait for emergency services before attempting to leave a stalled elevator.
Controversy exists over what to do should the unthinkable happen and you become trapped in a free-falling elevator. Joshua Piven’s and David Borgenicht’s investigation for “The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel” led them to conclude that lying face down on the floor, with your hands folded across the back of your head, was the better tactic for surviving a free-fall. Lying flat on the floor would distribute shock, rather than concentrating it in your legs (your folded hands would protect the back of your head and neck from falling debris). They also noted that the “compressed air column” may act to reduce the impact as well.
A competing theory of the lie-flat strategy is the idea of jumping before the impact, supposedly to lessen the effects of the fall and minimize the areas of your body that might be badly hurt. However, Piven and Borgenicht note that jumping would be near impossible, calling the chance of correct timing “infinitesimally small.” They also note that the elevator may collapse on you once it hits.