Crocs are both extremely popular and extremely good at gripping surfaces, which can become a problem when they are combined with small children and moving escalators.

According to a discussion going on over at Wise Bread, more and than a few children have been seriously injured when their Crocs or other rubber clogs stuck to a moving elevator. A few children have actually had toes ripped off by the escalator.

That this was even possible would not have occurred to us, so we thought we’d pass the information along to those of you who have kids. It’s probably not a good idea to allow your children to wear these shoes on escalators. The parent of a recently injured child wrote to Wise Bread:

There is no point in raising arguments along the lines of escalators being inherently dangerous for children, or of the possibility of similar accidents with every other kind of footwear, or of parents being solely responsible for the safety of their children when under their care. The fact is that so many children have been hurt because the traction of their clogs is unsuitable for escalators. This danger had come to our attention prior to the accident involving my very own daughter, which is why we are always very careful when making her ride the escalator with her Crocs on. She even constantly recites the line “stay on the center,” as we always remind her to do so. But it just took a millisecond for us to fall victim to an already familiar mishap. Being careful just wasn’t enough.

No Crocs or other rubber clogs on escalators. Got it!

Wise Bread also linked this news video about the issue. It offers Croc’s official response:

“Crocs shoes are completely safe. The popularity of our shoes has helped draw attention to a long-existing issue that we think is very important–escalator safety”

More children hurt in Crocs-related accidents. [Wise Bread]