I propose a fool-proof elevator safety design: The constrictive well system.

This would consist of an air-tight continuation of the elevator shaft below the normal bottom floor. The shaft addition would be the size of the normal shaft near the top, and very close to the elevator car size at the bottom, vaguely like an upside-down pyramid.

If an elevator were to fall at full speed, the car would push down on the air below it in the shaft, and the only place for the air to go would be upward, around the sides of the car. As the car falls, the shaft constricts smaller and smaller, and the rushing air must go through a smaller and smaller area to get around the car, thus slowing the car gradually.

Pro: Reliable - No moving parts.Con: Cost - it means digging down further down and pouring more concrete. Also, elevators are already pretty darn safe.

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