Myth Check

ELEVATORS · FLOOR 09 · MYTH CHECK

Tap a claim to open the verdict. Everything here links to a source at the bottom.

“The door close button doesn't do anything” ≈ Sort of

On a lot of elevators installed since the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), the door close button won’t shorten the minimum door-open time, so for regular riders it can feel like a placebo. In 2016 the head of the elevator industry’s trade group told The New York Times the close-door feature had “faded into obsolescence” after the ADA, and the internet ran with “it’s all a placebo.” That’s an exaggeration: plenty of buttons still work once the minimum open time has passed, and the button is definitely wired up: in firefighter service and independent service mode it becomes a real, working control.

“If the cable snaps, the car free-falls to the bottom” ✗ Busted

Traction elevators hang from several ropes, and together they’re rated for many times the car’s full load. Even if they all failed, the overspeed governor and rail-gripping safeties are designed to stop the car. The famous exception is Betty Lou Oliver’s 1945 fall at the Empire State Building, and that took a B-25 bomber hitting the building. See Floor 2.

“Jump right before it hits the bottom and you'll be fine” ✗ Busted

You’d still be moving at nearly the speed of the car. A human jump changes your speed by a few miles per hour, which is nothing next to a real fall. Luckily, the previous myth makes this one moot.

“You'll run out of air if you're stuck” ✗ Busted

Cars aren’t airtight. There are gaps around the doors and vents in the car. The real risks when you’re stuck are trying to climb out, and medical problems that can’t wait. Stay put and press the alarm.

“Pressing the call button over and over makes it come faster” ✗ Busted

The call is registered the first time. The button lights up to tell you so. Pressing it again just makes you feel better. Destination dispatch works the same way: enter your floor once.

“Most buildings skip the 13th floor” ✓ True

The floor exists. It’s just labeled 14, or M, or 12A. The often-repeated figure, attributed to Otis, is that around 85% of its button panels skip the number 13.

“Mirrors make the wait feel shorter” ≈ Sort of

The classic story is that building managers answered complaints about slow elevators by installing mirrors, and the complaints dropped, because people had something to look at. It’s a staple of queueing-psychology lessons. The exact origin story is hard to pin down, but the idea behind it (occupied time feels shorter) is well established.

“Elevator music is a real brand” ✓ True

Muzak goes back to 1934 and Major General George Owen Squier, who blended “music” and “Kodak” into the name. Muzak later sold “Stimulus Progression,” timed blocks of instrumental music meant to keep workers moving. Elevators were just one of many places it played.

“Holding "door close" and a floor button makes the car go express” ✗ Busted

That’s internet folklore. Express or “independent” service is a real mode, but it’s switched on with a key, not a button combo, so the car ignores hall calls only when building staff set it that way. See Floor 5.

“Elevators are one of the safest ways to get around” ✓ True

With something like 20 million elevators and escalators running worldwide, and multiple fail-safe systems in every car, serious elevator accidents are rare, and the typical “incident” is a car that stops short or a door that misbehaves, not a plunge. We couldn’t find a single primary safety-agency rate we’d trust enough to quote, so no fake-precise statistic here.

The one that’s actually useful

If an elevator stops between floors: stay inside, press the alarm or call button, and wait for the voice. Don’t pry the doors and don’t climb out. The car is the safest place in the building, and the people coming to get you do this all the time.

The one that’s actually useful#

Sources#

The one that’s actually useful

Sources