Am I being nasty or would you agree?

[Spudz27]

Came across this news story today

http://www.iinet.net.au/customers/ne...es/985123.html

A bizarre accident on a moving walkway in a British shopping centre has almost killed a four-year-old boy and left his face temporarily discoloured.

Darren Webb said his son Stevie Webb looks "like an extra out of that new Avatar film" after his head became trapped between two travelators at the Sainsbury's Savacentre in Colliers Wood, south London.

Stevie was playing near the walkways when his jacket became snagged — violently snapping his head backwards.

He was not breathing when his mother hit the emergency stop button but later regained consciousness.

While Stevie is expected to make a full recovery, burst blood vessels in his head have left his face and eyes a strange shade of purple.

"The doctors [said] it's only because he's so young and supple that his neck didn't break," the Croydon Guardian reported Darren Webb as saying.

"He doesn’t have any white left in his eyes and it could be months until the colour in his face goes back to normal."

The family said they will take legal action against the shopping centre after mall management refused to accept blame for the bizarre accident.

"There needs to be something there to stop this from happening again," the BBC reported Mr Webb as saying.

"[My son] died, stopped breathing under a 20-foot Sainsbury's sign. You tell me whose responsibility it is.

I feel sorry for the boy but the bit I have bolded makes me so mad. Do we really live in a world now where no one takes responsibility for their kids actions. As far as I am concerned she can't sue the store, she was the idiot who let her kid play there in the first place.

We have travelators at our local shopping centre and I will say now my 4yr old daughter is never allowed to play on them.

[FGX-351]

Originally Posted by EDfutura25

Came across this news story today

http://www.iinet.net.au/customers/ne...es/985123.html

A bizarre accident on a moving walkway in a British shopping centre has almost killed a four-year-old boy and left his face temporarily discoloured.

Darren Webb said his son Stevie Webb looks "like an extra out of that new Avatar film" after his head became trapped between two travelators at the Sainsbury's Savacentre in Colliers Wood, south London.

Stevie was playing near the walkways when his jacket became snagged — violently snapping his head backwards.

He was not breathing when his mother hit the emergency stop button but later regained consciousness.

While Stevie is expected to make a full recovery, burst blood vessels in his head have left his face and eyes a strange shade of purple.

"The doctors [said] it's only because he's so young and supple that his neck didn't break," the Croydon Guardian reported Darren Webb as saying.

"He doesn’t have any white left in his eyes and it could be months until the colour in his face goes back to normal."

The family said they will take legal action against the shopping centre after mall management refused to accept blame for the bizarre accident.

"There needs to be something there to stop this from happening again," the BBC reported Mr Webb as saying.

"[My son] died, stopped breathing under a 20-foot Sainsbury's sign. You tell me whose responsibility it is.

I feel sorry for the boy but the bit I have bolded makes me so mad. Do we really live in a world now where no one takes responsibility for their kids actions. As far as I am concerned she can't sue the store, she was the idiot who let her kid play there in the first place.

We have travelators at our local shopping centre and I will say now my 4yr old daughter is never allowed to play on them.

Yeah I was honestly thinking the same thing when I read the story.

[GK]

So the parent admits his child was playing unsupervised? If so, then he's a mug for not taking responsibility for the incident.

If there's a design fault on the escalators which allows for easy catching of loose clothing, then that's another issue.

GK

[LTDHO]

Why be a good parent when you can sue?

[ltd_on20s]

the parent should be fined for being stupid.

"you tell me who's fault it was?"

lol. omg.

[Mansal]

Speaking as a parent of two (under two) I couldn't agree more with your position. It perplexes me how parents of young children are more inclined to move heaven and earth to lobby for legislation/take legal action/'blame the system'/etc when ultimately - when all is said and done - the child is the parent's responsability (IMHO it's just part of being a parent...you'd think??)

Case in point: I have a relative whose 2yo son started off in child care after his mother returned to work. The boy didn't like going and would act up - separation anxiety mainly - and they were discussing this at a family get together in which the conversation went something like this:
Mum: "We probably have to pull him out of childcare"
Dad: "Why would we do that?"
Mum: "Because he doesn't like it, he gets really upset, sick all the time etc..."
Dad (and I quote): "Well that's the teacher's problem then..."

..makes the blood boil

[Rodp]

That's the reason insurance costs have skyrocketed over the last decade. People attempting to cash in on incidents like this.

When I was a wee lad, if this had happened to me, my parents would have been thankful that I would make a full recovery and that would be that. Today, it appears to be, 'how much can I milk this for...'

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Why be a good parent when you can sue?

Unfortunately this is exactly the truth!

I've got 3 kids - 5 1/2, 2 1/2, and 6 months...

And yeah maybe sometimes I don't supervise them enough and they bump their heads, or crash into each other on their bikes (well, not the 6 month old)...

But negligence and poor supervision that causes accidents like this are THE PARENT'S fault and not the fault of the shopping centre or anyone else...

Would be like trying to sue Wiltshire after your kid severs a finger playing with a knife.... Sure Wiltshire made the blade sharp, but your 4-year old shouldn't have been playing with it!!!!

People need to take responsibility for their own actions (and in-actions)...

[RG]

Try doing security. I've had staff try to tell little ones not to play near escalators and revolving doors and the thanks they get is a yelling at by moron parents.

[MAD]

Whenever I see kids playing unsupervised on an escalator I feel like Brodie in Mallrats... haha.

Seriously though, it's entirely the parents fault in my opinion.

Somehow, fault doesnt seem to mean anything these days.
A friend of mine had his dog at a park, not on a leash, and a smaller dog, also not on a leash, came up to his dog, snapped at it and got a snap back from my friends dog. Unfortunately as my friends dog was bigger, the little dog ended up with some puncture wounds.
My friend drove the guy and his dog to the vet, automatically offered to pay half the bill, but a couple of days later the guy decided to sue, and for some reason my friend was found to be the one at fault and had to pay full vet bill plus damages and now his dog has been registered as a aggressive dog and as such must have a muzzle on at all times when outside the house.
How , I ask, is it entirely his fault? Both dog owners were at equal fault for not having their dogs on a leash.

[FGII-XR6]

easy the shopping center should make a DOCS notification ( of whate ever it is there) as the parents were not properly caring for the child . if they were proven to be negligent this should help them in court, or at least pay the parents back for suing them over their own negligence

[TZENU]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Why be a good parent when you can sue?

And make lots of money and then blow it all on yourselves... Unbelievable

[Keepleft]

Parents have to be careful anywhere near escalators, including those to standard here in AUS. They are not toys.

Women over at EB often complain of parents leeting their kids 'play' with them.

[cs123]

The problem with news reports is that they distil a very complex chain of events down to a few sentences.

For all we know that the escalators may have been defective. They may have been missing safety devices. They may not have had adequate maintenance. We don't know the full story. They may have been supervising the child and he scarpered off quickly and got into trouble.

I'm all for parents taking proper responsibilities but the centre management have a duty of care too. Whether they breached that is a matter for a investigation to determine.

Why have any safety devices on anything? If we take proper responsibilities for our young we wouldn't need pool fences either, would we?

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by cs123

The problem with news reports is that they distil a very complex chain of events down to a few sentences.

For all we know that the escalators may have been defective. They may have been missing safety devices. They may not have had adequate maintenance. We don't know the full story. They may have been supervising the child and he scarpered off quickly and got into trouble.

I'm all for parents taking proper responsibilities but the centre management have a duty of care too. Whether they breached that is a matter for a investigation to determine.

Why have any safety devices on anything? If we take proper responsibilities i for our young we wouldn't need pool fences either, would we?

I agree with this. As parents it's our responsibility to ensure that what our kids are doing is safe, but that doesn't alleviate all responsibilities to the management if the equipment is defective/unsafe. Accidents can still happen, so both parties need to ensure that safety is adhered to.

[RG]

Originally Posted by cs123

The problem with news reports is that they distil a very complex chain of events down to a few sentences.

For all we know that the escalators may have been defective. They may have been missing safety devices. They may not have had adequate maintenance. We don't know the full story. They may have been supervising the child and he scarpered off quickly and got into trouble.

I'm all for parents taking proper responsibilities but the centre management have a duty of care too. Whether they breached that is a matter for a investigation to determine.

Why have any safety devices on anything? If we take proper responsibilities for our young we wouldn't need pool fences either, would we?

The only safety devices required are emergency stop buttons which were in place and guards to shield any moving parts.

Escalators/Travelators & Moving Walkways are very easy to have clothing become entangled in. Children should ALWAYS have an adult holding their hand AT ALL TIMES whilst in the vicinity of them.

[platinumXR]

Originally Posted by cs123

The problem with news reports is that they distil a very complex chain of events down to a few sentences.

For all we know that the escalators may have been defective. They may have been missing safety devices. They may not have had adequate maintenance. We don't know the full story. They may have been supervising the child and he scarpered off quickly and got into trouble.

I'm all for parents taking proper responsibilities but the centre management have a duty of care too. Whether they breached that is a matter for a investigation to determine.

Why have any safety devices on anything? If we take proper responsibilities for our young we wouldn't need pool fences either, would we?

Good points, but it does not take a civil lawsuit to achieve this as Centre Management(s) are not generally deliberately negligent.

Parent's are over reacting a little.

[onfire]

I've mentioned this lack of responsibility in other threads, and on other forums. It reminds me of those people who sue McDonald's, confect., soft drink and cigarette companies because they're obese, sick, in need of help.. but god damn them if they stopped drinking the 10l of Coke a day and smoking up a small bush fire, and made the correct life changes using their own initiative.

Unless theres a real safety issue, which I dare say would be addressed upon discovery theres no real case.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by platinumXR

Good points, but it does not take a civil lawsuit to achieve this as Centre Management(s) are not generally deliberately negligent.

Parent's are over reacting a little.

Sometimes it does. The default stance of the management will be to admit no liability.

This even happens with your car insurance. You are always instructed to admit nothing in the event of an accident.

[auxr]

The report indicated the child was playing near the walkway when his jacket became entangled.
As a parent, I would not have let my child play anywhere near a moving platform, but as usual, litigation is the only answer to a lack of commensense/supervision by the childs parents.

[XR6_661]

People will always look for someone to blame...

Put it this way...if you injure youself at work...and you are purely at fault, no ifs no buts, it was your fault. A good % of people would still try and claim compo...blame the employer, etc...

Why? Because that's human nature. At least that's the way I see it...It's backwards, but it's what happens.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by RG

The only safety devices required are emergency stop buttons which were in place and guards to shield any moving parts.

Escalators/Travelators & Moving Walkways are very easy to have clothing become entangled in. Children should ALWAYS have an adult holding their hand AT ALL TIMES whilst in the vicinity of them.

A quick google would suggest there are more safety devices that need inspection.

http://www.lni.wa.gov/Forms/pdf/621055af.pdf

[RG]

Originally Posted by cs123

A quick google would suggest there are more safety devices that need inspection.

http://www.lni.wa.gov/Forms/pdf/621055af.pdf

And a quick check of that form will show you that 90% of the items on it are located away form where any member of the public could get to them.

I do know what I am on about mate, it is stuff I deal with on a daily basis.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by RG

And a quick check of that form will show you that 90% of the items on it are located away form where any member of the public could get to them.

I do know what I am on about mate, it is stuff I deal with on a daily basis.

Yeah, but there are safety items related to public areas. And they need to be checked periodically. So how do we know that the escalator in question was fully compliant and up to date. It isn't clear from the article.

That is the point I was making.

[auxr]

Originally Posted by cs123

Yeah, but there are safety items related to public areas. And they need to be checked periodically. So how do we know that the escalator in question was fully compliant and up to date. It isn't clear from the article.

That is the point I was making.

Can't see the point - I certainly don't check to see if every escalator I travel on is compliant before I step onto it, and yes the article isn't clear about the escalator being compliant, that will become clear when an investigation has been completed.

[RG]

Originally Posted by auxr

Can't see the point - I certainly don't check to see if every escalator I travel on is compliant before I step onto it, and yes the article isn't clear about the escalator being compliant, that will become clear when an investigation has been completed.

So if you saw that an escalator was missing guards you'd still get on it? They're pretty easy to see.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by RG

So if you saw that an escalator was missing guards you'd still get on it? They're pretty easy to see.

What if it was missing at the other end where I get off?

[RG]

Originally Posted by cs123

What if it was missing at the other end where I get off?

Besides the point but you should be holding your kids hand and be aware of what is going on around you and in front of you.

With the stringent requirements for maintenance on these things, especially in Shopping Precincts, I find it VERY hard to believe that there would be a failure with the ability to cause this.

Far far more likely that it was just another of those parents that lets their kids run loose (as a lot of people are guilty of from time to time) and something unfortunately has gone wrong. Too bad people nowadays refuse to accept any sort of responsibility for their actions.

There is another point here too. Even in the unlikely event that there was a failure of safety devices, what was the kid doing on a moving walkway without full supervision by an adult? Had this poor kid had their hand held by the parent I can't see how it would happen.

[auxr]

Originally Posted by RG

So if you saw that an escalator was missing guards you'd still get on it? They're pretty easy to see.

Errm - no - the intention was that I don't readily look for any compliance certificate, or signage on an escalator before I step onto it, misssing guards and other bit's that may have fallen off usually results with a rather large sign at the front saying out of operation - falling down open lift shafts, now that's an entirely different matter

[RG]

Originally Posted by auxr

Errm - no - the intention was that I don't readily look for any compliance certificate, or signage on an escalator before I step onto it, misssing guards and other bit's that may have fallen off usually results with a rather large sign at the front saying out of operation - falling down open lift shafts, now that's an entirely different matter

Nothing wrong with falling down a lift shaft

My point is that the only failure of safety devices that could cause this to happen would be plainly visible. Hell most now have fail-safes built in that if there is a defect with a safety system they shut down.