The scary reason behind escalators having brushes on the side
Not to ruin something else for you, but there's a scary reasons behind why escalators having brushes on either side and I know it, so now you have to as well.
With escalators being pretty much commonplace in the likes of shopping centres, airports and train stations, most of us don't think too much about how they're made.
Equally, we don't think about how dangerous they could actually be if something were to go wrong.
But, there's a lot that goes into an escalator, including lots of safety features.
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After all, some of them are pretty long - just look at the escalator in Angel tube station in London, which is a whopping 60 metres.
You might not have thought too much about it, but have you ever wondered what the brushes on the side of an escalator are actually for?
Well, you're about to find out:
The bristles act as a safety feature, which help stop other accidents from happening.
The 'safety brushes' are there to keep things like your shoes and clothing from getting stuck between the balustrade skirt and the moving stairs.
If they weren't there, there would be a high chance of your clothes getting stuck in the moving escalator, which is the last thing you want when you're rushing through the tube station on your morning commute.
Yet, the brushes themselves are actually more of a psychological deterrent rather than a physical one.
How you ask?
Well, when we feel a brush moving against our leg or clothing, we will instinctively move it away preventing it from getting snagged on the escalator.
TikTok account 'Untold Facts' also clarified why the bristles are so important, adding: "One of the biggest reasons for escalator mishaps is people getting their clothes and bags stuck in them when they stand too close to the sides."
People took to the comments to share their experience.
One viewer commented: "I got my floor length dress caught in an escalator and it left oil/grease stains on it that I could never remove."
"Only recently my hubby helped a lady who got her skirt stuck on the escalator," another added.
As a third commented: "Escalators scare the s**t out of me to this day.
"My kids laugh at me because i take the stairs!"
There have been some pretty terrifying stories about escalators over the years.
Back in 2018, a man named Mehmet Ali Erik got swallowed up by a faulty escalator at the Ayazaga Metro station in Istanbul, Turkey.
Initially, the escalator in question wasn't moving, but soon after Mehmet steps onto the stairs, the escalator starts up again.
Instead of working properly, the whole thing collapses, sending most people on it tumbling down to the bottom.
According to Metro, he was reportedly trapped beneath the metal stairs for an hour before he was rescued, but only suffered minor injuries.
This is enough to make us always take the stairs, tbh.
Lucy Devine