ATLANTA — A Georgia lawmaker has introduced a bill that would significantly increase fines on property owners who do not get their elevators inspected.
Six months ago, a teen football player died in a horrific elevator accident.
Jaumarcus McFarland died inside a student housing building when an elevator failed and crushed him between two floors, according to state investigators.
[RELATED: Wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of teen killed in Atlanta elevator accident]
Everything happened right in front of his friends, who said the elevator had problems.
“We knew something like this was going to happen. We didn’t know it was going to take one of our teammates,” Bryon Groves said.
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The state investigation also revealed the elevators in the building had not been inspected in over two years, one year past the reinspection date.
A student showed Channel 2 a photo of the old expired inspection sticker.
“This bill is a direct result of the tragedy that Jaumarcus McFarland and his family suffered,” said Matthew Wilson (D-Brookhaven).
Wilson, who is also running for insurance commissioner, introduced a bill to increase fines. The bill had a subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
[RELATED: Building where metro teen died in elevator being hit with several violations, fines]
Currently, the fine is set at $500 per elevator if the property owners don’t get them inspected every 12 months.
The bill would increase the fine to $2,500 per elevator and go up to a $10,000 fine if the problem continues.
It also gives the insurance commissioner’s office the power to schedule inspections if the property owner fails to do so.
“The first one is on the property owner to schedule these inspections, but if you don’t do so within 60 days, the state is stepping in,” Wilson said.
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Channel 2 Action News reached out to John King, the current insurance commissioner.
His office points out they did aggressively go after the property owner for a number of violations and fined them $12,000.
They also pointed out there are 34,000 elevators in Georgia. Right now, they have a budget for 14 inspectors.
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