World Without Stairs: Preventing Personal Injury & Accidents
A world without stairs?
Stairs are a common feature in many buildings here in New York. While stairs have many things going for them as a way to get from one floor to another, they are certainly not without their downsides. Examples of some of the more negative aspects of stairs are that:
- They can take up a lot of space.
- The effort and time they take to climb can make them an impractical way to get around in particularly tall buildings.
- The costs of installing them can get high.
- They can pose safety risks.
One of the big safety risks that can come up in relation to stairs is the risk of a person falling while using them. Many things can impact the chances of such accidents happening, including whether the stairs are in good repair. When a person is injured as a result of falling down a set of stairs, skilled attorneys can assist them in investigating whether their fall was the result of any negligent maintenance regarding the stairway. They can also provide such individuals with guidance regarding their options for pursuing injury compensation.
With stairs being such a common feature, one might just assume that stairs are an inevitable part of a multi-floor world. However, might the future see stairs become obsolete?
There have been efforts to come up with alternatives for multi-floor travel that would overcome the shortcomings of stairs and other currently available methods. One such effort is the recently developed Vertical Walking system.
The system was developed by a design lab in the Netherlands. It is currently in the prototype stage. The system includes upright rails and a platform with a seat on it. It contains pulleys, elasticized ropes and gripping systems that are designed to allow a person to use their own power to move the platform up and down between floors. The designers claim that using the system requires only around 10 percent of the physical exertion that climbing stairs involves. It also purportedly could be used for travel covering a large number of floors. Additionally, as it would be human-powered, it wouldn’t need the power sources that stair alternatives like elevators require.
What are your thoughts on this prototype system? Do you think such a system and ones like it could someday lead to a largely stair-free world? What do you think such a world would mean safety-wise?