At least in large metropolitan areas with high rise valet garages. An attendant was killed in an accident this week in Manhattan. The story is here. He parked the car on a lift and perhaps forgot to set the brake. When the lift rose, to its extended position, the car rolled off and crushed the attendant.
I’m told that accidents are not unusual in valet garages. Cars are driven on and off elevators (in June a SUV was driven through closed elevator doors and crashed down on the top of the cab, two attendants were hurt.) and in many garages man lifts are used to more attendants around the facility. These can be dangerous as sometimes attendants, in order to speed up the process, will override safety switches.
My New York information source told me that riding on a man lift was one of the most terrifying moments of his life.
Yes, accidents happen and of course we mourn for the families of those killed and maimed. However in most cases, these accidents happened when procedures put in place to prevent them were ignored.
JVH
2 Responses
Manlifts scared the heck out of me. One has a death grip on the handles such that you worry you won’t let go at the top floor going over the top-bad dreams. I had an employee killed in NYC(1997) who stepped on the lift as it was heading down and he was crushed in the pit. We had trained him on proper proceedure but his English was poor. Also had a young customer who was drunk ,late at night,with his buddies, who wandered down into the garage basement as the attendant was retrieving their car. He also stepped on the lift heading down . Now there are automatic lift shut offs if you fall into the pit or decide you want to ride over the top.
Every job has its risks. The important thing is not to overlook the safety procedures that have been set in place to avoid accidents.