[masraum]

Originally Posted by speeder

If it makes you feel better, falling elevator cars are basically impossible with the centrifugal brakes they have. I mean, I guess that one could fall really slowly and not activate the brake but then who cares?

Elevators can be extremely dangerous in certain situations but not from the car falling. The two most common ways that people die are both gruesome…one is that the doors open and there is no car and people step in anyway and fall to their death. The other one is worse…the car gets stuck and people try to open the doors and climb through the partial opening, (it stops halfway to outer door opening), and elevator suddenly starts moving the wrong way and cuts you in half. Always stay in the car, no matter what.

In Houston there have been people that have had the doors close on body parts and then the elevator moves while the body part is clamped in the doors. There was a person that got their head sheared off that way. Granted, I don't think you should be getting into an elevator head first.

Also, another in Houston, someone got in an elevator during a storm that was causing flooding and tried to go to their car in the basement parking. The flooded, basement parking. That person drowned.