Things You Don’t Know About Modern Elevators

Earlier today we posted on a New Yorker piece about a man trapped in an elevator for 41 hours. But the real gem of the article was the mountain of "Did you know..." facts laced throughout. Like that Door Close button you're always pushing?

Yeah, it doesn't work. Here's the full list:

As mentioned above, the Door Close button is there mostly to give passengers the illusion of control. In elevators built since the early '90s. The button is only enabled in emergency situations with a key held by an authority.

The only known occurence of an elevator car free falling due to a snapped cable (barring fire or structural collapse), was in 1945. A B25 Bomber crashed into the Empire State Building, severing the cables of two elevators. The elevator car on the 75th floor had a woman on it, but she survived due to the 1000 feet of coiled cable of fallen cable below, which lessened the impact.
Elevators are twenty times safer than escalators. There are twenty times more elevators than escalators, but only 1/3 more accidents.
Elevators are also safer than cars. An average of 26 people die in elevators each year in the U.S. There are 26 car deaths every five hours.
Most people who die in elevators are elevator technicians.
The Otis Elevator Company carries the equivalent of the world's population in their elevators every five days.
The New York Marriott was the first to introduce a smart elevator system that assigned passengers to elevators depending on what floor they were heading to.
Elevators used to require a two-man dispatcher/operator team to function. The advent of navigational buttons rendered those jobs obsolete.
The area required for personal space is 2.3 feet. The average amount on elevators is generally 2 feet.
Elevator hatches are generally bolted shut for safety reasons. In times of elevator crisis, the safest place is inside the elevator.
The myth about jumping just before impact in a falling elevator is just that — myth. You can't jump fast enough to counteract the speed of falling. And you wouldn't know when to jump.
Due to the laws of physics, elevators can't be any taller than 1700 feet. Hoist ropes become too heavy after that, snapping at 3200 feet.

And as an interesting closing note, Nicholas White, the man trapped in the elevator, received a low six-figure settlement after filing a $25 million lawsuit against the building. But in the process, he lost his job, his money and his apartment. He is now unemployed. [The New Yorker]

http://gizmodo.com/380741/things-you-dont-know-about-modern-elevators

Bored much joffa ? Slow news day ?

Nearly 200 people died last year in road accidents where they were not wearing seat belts

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/nrma-want-police-to-target-motorists-not-wearing-a-seat-belt/story-fndo48ca-1226541983419

You’ll never guess which Canadian artist outsold John Lennon Add to ...
Brad Wheeler

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Dec. 21 2012, 6:00 PM EST

Perhaps it was her unimaginable 1974 cover of Day Tripper that did it, but Anne Murray has sold more albums in the United States than John Lennon. According to freshened-up figures from the Recording Industry Association of America, the Snowbird songbird has sold 14.5 million records, ranking her a half-million ahead of Ted Nugent, Olivia Newton-John and the former Beatle. Then again, the Beatles proper top the list with 177 million certified album sales, followed by Elvis Presley (134.5 million). Others cracking the 100-million circle are Garth Brooks (128); Led Zeppelin (111.5); and the Eagles, who took it easy and to the limit (100). Australian rockers AC/DC and Barbra Streisand (the top-tallying female artist, and 10th overall) each have sold 71.5 million LPs, one million ahead of Michael Jackson. The top Canadian? Celine Dion, who sits at 23rd overall with 50 million albums sold, three spots ahead of fellow Sin City starlet Shania Twain. At the bottom of the eight-figure list is Avril Lavigne, whose 10.25 million is half of what fiancé Chad Kroeger and Nickelback have pushed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article6641165.ece

Everyone is a talking monkey flying through the universe taking things way too seriously

Only a licenced electrician can change a light bulb

Both the Liberal Party and Labor Party are equally fucked in the head and only care about power and couldn't give a flying fuck about the country.



Edited by RJL25: 20/12/2012 08:51:38 PM

Both the Liberal Party and Labor Party are equally fucked in the head and only care about power and couldn't give a flying fuck about the country.



Edited by RJL25: 20/12/2012 08:51:38 PM

"Spam much?"
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