How the Hell Are These Crazy Continuous Lifts Still A Thing?

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I religiously maintain a list of ‘dangerous machinery that wants to eat my limbs’, and having watched this video, Paternoster lifts — that is, lifts with continuously moving carriages that you jump in and out of — just went straight to the top.

YouTuber Tom Scott took a trip to the University of Sheffield, an institution that has too many living students, a problem it is trying to solve with this 20-story mechanical deathtrap. A Paternoster lift has a bunch of continuously moving carriages, which ride all the way up a building, over the top, and then back down. Passengers are meant to hop on and off in the second when the lift lines up with the door; unless, you’re disabled, or carrying things, or trip, in which case you get squished by this horrific slow-motion guillotine.

I guess from some perspective, it’s a fabulous piece of engineering, and probably a surprisingly efficient solution for moving people up and down. But on the other hand, OH HELL NO.

[YouTube]

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RenRenChris Mills
6/19/15 1:15am

There was a doctor in Texas who was decapitated by a regular elevator. A woman sat inside the elevator with the severed head for a long time until they were able to get her out.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/9...

How is it that this paternoster contraption hasn’t killed anyone? Or has it?