This Pointless Button Doesn’t Work in Any Iowa Elevator

I know you've been in an elevator and hit this button. We all have, and even though it never works, we all still do hit it. We hit it. Tap it. Smash it. Mash it. But to no avail. Don't get me wrong, eventually, the elevator responds to you pushing "door close", but it's not because you hit the button.

What's the point of a button that doesn't even work?

Yes, the door close button appears on every elevator, seemingly, in the world. But no, it doesn't work in Iowa elevators, or any elevator in the United States for that matter. Why is it that elevators have a button that doesn't work? Well, the answer is pretty straightforward.

The door close button did, at one time, work like a charm. You hop in the elevator, no one is coming, or maybe they are, and so you mash the door close to start your journey up or down. Well, in 1990, that all changed. The reason is the reason for this is the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, elevators in the U.S. were required to stay open long enough that an individual with a physical disability could still make it into the elevator before the door shut. While the door open button has always worked, the thought was that a door close button could limit a physically disabled individual from making it into the elevator.

Because 1990 was such a long time ago, almost every elevator currently in operation is newer or has been replaced since the law was passed. For whatever reason, maybe because the button still works outside the U.S., elevators still have a non-working door close button.

So go ahead... tap it. Mash it. Smash it. Push it all you want. It doesn't work, and that's not going to change.

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