Many of you will certainly have noticed it: next to steps from the escalators there are some brushes black in color and a few centimeters thick. But what are they for? Some believe their function is to clean your shoes exploiting the movement of the staircase itself, but in reality their function is much more important and has to do with the safety of passengers.
In fact, there is always one between the steps of the escalator and the wall small gap just a few millimeters wide, inside which they could get stuck long dresses, skirts or shoe laces. Accidents of this type have occurred in the past and therefore, to prevent this from happening again, in 2004 the rule was introduced UNI EN 115/1 which requires the stairs to be equipped with side brushes or, possibly, rubber profiles. This not only allows you to have a physical barrier to deflect any objects that are about to fall into the cavity, but also serves to indicate to the passenger that he must stay at least a few centimeters away from the wall of the staircase.
The presence of brushes is necessary and “cleaning” the shoes not only it does not work – since that is not the purpose – but it could even be dangerous. In fact, if you press too hard the strings could go beyond the brushes and end up in the empty space anyway, getting stuck. The same goes if you have gods small children: it is best to prevent them from touching the brushes because their hands could get stuck in the ladder.
