Falling to your death in a steel box seems like the sort of risk you would want to avoid, especially when the alternative is merely the inconvenience of walking up a few flights of stairs. Luckily, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission report that elevator accidents are exceedingly rare, and more likely to happen to elevator repair professionals than people merely cruising between floors. Still, the notion of an elevator cable snapping and sending you on a deranged amusement ride, no matter how improbable, is scary enough to warrant memorizing a few survival tips.
Illustration by Ted Slampyak
