Lean on Elevator Door at Own Risk
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Think twice the next time you lean on an elevator door or make commotion inside. You are doing so at your own peril.
A Seoul appellate court ruled Monday that elevator makers and those responsible for maintenance were not responsible for injuries or death from accidents caused by such behavior.
The Seoul High Court found that the maker of the elevator and an elevator maintenance service provider were not responsible for a man's death resulting from a fall while leaning against an elevator's doors.
The ruling overturned a lower court's verdict ordering them to compensate the man's family.
Presiding Judge Kim Joo-hyun said in the ruling, ``It's an excessive expectation that those liable for maintaining the elevator should be held responsible for unruly behavior by a drunk person. The evidence is insufficient for the court to rule otherwise.''
The judge also rejected a claim by the victim's lawyer that the components of the elevator doors were unchanged for three years as grounds for seeking compensation.
He pointed out those doors were approved for use by the Korea Elevator Safety Institute, a state organization inspecting the maintenance of elevators, escalators, moving walks and mechanical paring systems.
``They have also been judged to be without any problem during monthly checkups. Given this, the accident was not caused by the faulty doors but by human misbehavior,'' the judge said. He also observed that the victim's rowdy behavior occurred despite a specific warning posted on the door advising against leaning on the door.
The accident took place in February 2007.
The victim, a 25-year-old identified by his family name Kim, and his friends hopped into an elevator operating in a commercial building in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province.
According to court records, Kim was leaning against the elevator's door on his way down to the first floor after drinking at a beer hall.
The bottom part of the inside door suddenly gave in, while the outside door was opening. Kim fell a couple of floors inside the elevator shaft.
He died instantly of head injuries.
In September last year, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the two companies to pay 130 million won in compensation, a partial victory for the victim's family.
According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, five died from falls in elevators between 2000 and 2007. During the same period, 14 were injured in similar accidents, the ministry said.