Pennsylvania Elevator and Escalator Accident Lawyer

Why Pennsylvania's Own Rules Decide Your Claim

Pennsylvania's statutes, not a national standard, set the deadlines, the fault rule and the death action that govern an elevator or escalator injury in the state, whether the building is in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or a smaller town. Most of those rules sit in Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the Judicial Code. A rule from another state does not carry over, even when the equipment, the manufacturer or the maintenance company works across many states.

Three legal ideas usually frame these claims. If your injury came from a condition in the building, such as a misleveled landing the owner knew about, the question falls under premises liability: the responsibility of those who own or control a property for injuries caused by conditions there. If it came from a part that failed, such as an elevator component or an escalator step, the question falls under product liability: responsibility for an injury caused by a defect in a product. A common carrier is a business that carries the public for hire; whether Pennsylvania treats a building's elevator under that idea depends on Pennsylvania's current law and the facts.

Which theory fits depends on who owned the building, who maintained the equipment, and what went wrong mechanically. For someone who was hurt, that threshold question often shapes which deadlines, defendants and damages rules come into play, and it is one of the first things a conversation with an attorney can help sort out. The general concepts are covered on the site's elevator accident lawyer page; this page stays with what Pennsylvania adds.

What Happened to You: Common Elevator and Escalator Accidents

The accidents behind these claims usually fall into a handful of mechanical patterns. Describing what happened mechanically is a separate thing from deciding who was at fault, and no scenario on its own proves a defect or anyone's negligence.

A sudden drop or free-fall is an unexpected descent of the elevator car, which can throw riders against the walls or floor. Misleveling means the car stops out of level with the landing, leaving a step up or down at the threshold; trips and falls at that edge are a common result. A gap between the car and the floor can catch a foot or a cane. A door that closes on a person, rather than reopening, can strike or trap an arm, a shoulder or a mobility device.

Entrapment means a person is stuck inside a stalled car, sometimes for a long time, or caught by moving parts. On escalators, injuries can follow a step that collapses, a handrail that stops or moves at a different speed from the steps, a sudden stop, or clothing or shoes caught at the edges. The site's page on how escalator accidents happen goes into those mechanisms in more detail, and the government elevator injury data shows how the federal government counts them.

If you were hurt, the way the accident happened points toward the defendants and legal theories that may be relevant. A step at the landing raises questions about leveling and maintenance; a component that gave way raises questions about design and manufacture. Your own account of the moment is often the starting point for that sorting.

Who Controlled the Equipment, and Who May Owe You a Duty

A single elevator in a Pennsylvania building can involve several businesses, each with a different relationship to the equipment. Whether any of them owed a duty to the injured person, and whether it was breached and caused the injury, depends on the facts and on the contracts in place.

Building owners and property managers are the usual focus of premises liability, because they own or control the place where the equipment runs. If a company was hired to service, adjust and repair the elevator or escalator, what it owed you may come from its service contract and from the general duty to use care in the work. If the equipment or a part was defective, the manufacturer or component supplier may be the focus, and the question becomes whether that defect caused your injury. Manufacturer, installer, contractor and owner roles can overlap in a single building.

Government entities form their own category. When the building belongs to the Commonwealth or a local agency, such as a public office building or a transit station, Pennsylvania imposes a written notice rule and damages limits that do not apply to private defendants. Those rules are explained below.

For an injured person, knowing who controlled the equipment determines who a claim may be brought against and whether the government rules apply. That usually means looking at ownership documents, service contracts and inspection records, which an attorney can help gather and read.

Filing Deadlines and the Notice Rule for Government Claims

Section 5524 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes says that "an action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another" must be commenced within two years. When that two-year period begins depends on when the claim accrues under Pennsylvania's current law, and a court applies that to the facts.

A child's claim is treated differently. Under section 5533 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, if the person entitled to sue is an unemancipated minor, meaning under 18, when the claim accrues, the period of minority is not counted, and the person has the same time after reaching majority as others have. The same section says insanity or imprisonment does not extend the time, except as otherwise provided by statute.

Claims against a government unit add an earlier step. Section 5522 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes requires a person about to sue a government unit for injury to file a signed written statement in the government unit's office within six months from the date the injury was sustained or the cause of action accrued, and also with the Attorney General if the action is against a Commonwealth agency. The statement sets out details including the names and residence addresses of the person with the claim and the person injured, and the date and hour of the accident. Without it, an action commenced more than six months after the injury is dismissed, but the court "shall excuse" the failure on a showing of reasonable excuse.

For a government unit other than the Commonwealth government, the same section adds three points: time during which the injured person is unable to give notice because of incapacity or disability from the injury is not counted, up to 90 days; if the injuries result in death, the notice period begins with the death; and failing to give notice is not a bar if the government unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition.

These periods can decide whether a claim is heard at all, which is why the dates of the accident, the injury and any death tend to be the first facts pinned down.

If You Were Partly at Fault: Pennsylvania's Comparative Fault Rule

Many injured people worry that looking at a phone, carrying bags or stepping off quickly will end their claim. Pennsylvania answers that question in section 7102 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, which says that in actions for negligence resulting in death or injury, the plaintiff's contributory negligence "shall not bar a recovery by the plaintiff or his legal representative where such negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants against whom recovery is sought, but any damages sustained by the plaintiff shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to the plaintiff."

In plain terms, comparative negligence compares the injured person's carelessness, if any, with the defendants' combined causal negligence. If the injured person's share is not greater than the defendants' combined share, recovery is still possible, reduced by that share. If it is greater, recovery is barred.

If more than one business is named, as can happen when an owner, a contractor and a manufacturer are all involved, section 7102 also speaks to how liability works among several defendants, including in actions for strict liability, and lets a defendant who pays more than its proportionate share seek contribution from the others.

How fault is divided is a question decided on the evidence. Video, maintenance history and witness accounts often shape whether a fall at a misleveled landing is seen as a condition of the equipment, a matter of the rider's attention, or both.

Evidence That Tends to Matter in These Cases

Records about the equipment usually sit at the center of these cases. An inspection or maintenance record is not an allegation or a finding of negligence. An inspection record or maintenance log shows what was checked, serviced or noted and when; it does not, by itself, show that anyone was careless or that the equipment caused an injury.

If you were hurt, the records that usually matter include:

• inspection records and maintenance logs, which speak to the equipment's condition and service history;
• incident or accident reports made with the building, property manager or hotel at the time;
• surveillance or security video from the property, which may show the event itself;
• photographs of the scene, the landing or step, the equipment and visible injuries;
• medical records documenting the injury, the treatment and what the treating providers expect next;
• the names and contact information of people who saw what happened.

Much of the equipment evidence is held by the owner, the manager or the maintenance contractor rather than the injured person. For someone with a claim, that means the strength of the case can depend on records held by others, and how they are obtained is often part of an early conversation with an attorney.

Damages Pennsylvania Law May Allow

Damages are the categories of loss the law allows a court to consider, and what applies depends on the facts, the evidence and the legal theory. Nothing about an injury predicts an outcome.

For claims against Commonwealth parties, section 8528 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes limits damages to past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity; pain and suffering; medical and dental expenses, including necessary hospital, nursing and physical therapy expenses accrued and anticipated; loss of consortium; and property losses, with an exception for one category of claims. It caps damages at $250,000 for any plaintiff or $1,000,000 in the aggregate.

For claims against local agencies, section 8553 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes caps damages at $500,000 in the aggregate and limits pain and suffering to death cases or cases of permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent disfigurement or permanent dismemberment where medical and dental expenses exceed $1,500. It also deducts most non-life insurance benefits from the damages. Both sections exclude specific categories of claims from their limits.

If the building's owner or operator was a private business, these caps do not apply. They are not a general cap on claims against a private owner, manager, contractor or manufacturer. What a private defendant's case may include, such as medical expenses, lost earnings, future care and pain and suffering, depends on Pennsylvania's current law and the facts.

When a Family Member Died: Wrongful Death Claims

For a family after a death, the first questions are often who may act and when. Section 8301 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes allows an action to recover damages for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act, neglect, unlawful violence or negligence of another, if the injured person did not recover the same damages during their lifetime and any prior actions for the same injuries are consolidated with the death claim to avoid a duplicate recovery.

The action exists only for the benefit of the spouse, children or parents of the deceased, whether or not they live in Pennsylvania. In addition to other damages, the plaintiff may recover reasonable hospital, nursing, medical and funeral expenses. If no spouse, child or parent is eligible, the personal representative of the deceased may bring an action limited to reasonable hospital, nursing, medical and funeral expenses and expenses of administration necessitated by the injuries causing death.

The two-year period in section 5524 covers an action for the death of an individual as well as for injuries. Where the death happened in a government-owned building, the notice rule in section 5522 also applies, and for a government unit other than the Commonwealth government its notice period begins with the death. If your family is facing these questions, a conversation with our attorney can cover who may bring the action and how the deadlines apply.

Questions Worth Asking Before You Speak With an Attorney

A Pennsylvania elevator or escalator claim tends to turn on a few factual questions, and many people find they know some answers and not others.

Who owned the building, and who managed it day to day? A hotel, an apartment complex and a public office building can have very different owners and managers, and a government owner brings the notice rule into play.

Was the elevator or escalator under a maintenance or service contract, and with whom? The contract can show who was responsible for servicing the equipment.

Was an incident or accident report made at the time, and who has it? Does surveillance or security video exist, and does the property, a tenant or another business control the camera?

What medical treatment has followed, and what do the records show about the injury and recovery? For a death, who are the spouse, children or parents, and has a personal representative been appointed?

Not knowing an answer is common. For someone weighing a claim, these questions show which deadlines, defendants and damages rules may apply, and the gaps are often what a first conversation with an attorney works through.