How malfunction proof are elevators?

Question

This past 4th of July weekend I was staying at the Omni Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas. It's a beautiful hotel and the service is fantastic. But, late last night I was going to go down to the lobby to ask for a tube of toothpaste.

I was waiting for the elevator to come up to the 19th floor, it did, but as I was stepping into the elevator it dropped about .25 of a floor and the doors stayed opened. This was as I was entering the elevator! I stayed where I was and the elevator leveled back to the 19th floor and I jumped out, frightened. So I thought I'd wait for one of the other two to come up. But no, the malfunctioning elevator kept opening and again, it dropped when it opened, even further, but this time I didn't get in. Finally the other elevator came and I was able to safely get down to the lobby.

I told the front desk and they put it out of service.

Anyway, how safe are these super fast elevators?

Answer 1

Very safe.  Statistically speaking, you have a 1,125 times higher chance of dying in a fire in your hotel room than on the elevator, and 311 times greater chance of drowning in the bathtub in the hotel room.

Malfunction proof?  Please.  They break down all the time.  It's a very basic system that has changed little over the past 50 years.

The chance of the elevator carriage breaking loose and you plummeting to your death is much less than winning the 350 million dollar Powerball lottery.  The only time that happens is when you have a substantial structural failure in a building due to earthquake or fire.