Have you ever pressed the pedestrian button at a crosswalk and wondered if it really worked? How about mashing the “close door” button in an elevator, while suspecting that it may have no effect whatsoever? If so, you’re not alone. The world is actually full of buttons that don’t actually do anything. Sometimes they’re called “placebo buttons” — buttons that are mechanically sound and can be pushed, but provide no functionality. They still serve a purpose, but it’s psychological. It gives you the illusion of control. Take, for example, New York City. Only about 100 of the 1,000 crosswalk buttons actually function. That’s because it’s more expensive to remove them than it is to leave them in place, even though they don't work. In London, which has 6,000 traffic signals, pressing the pedestrian button results in a reassuring “wait” light, but that doesn’t mean that the “walk” light will appear any sooner. So what about the most jabbed button of them all: the “close door” in elevators? If you live in the U.S., it almost certainly doesn’t work. There’s a good reason for that: the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that elevator doors remain open long enough for anyone with mobility issues to get onboard safely. So, unless the allotted boarding time has been reached, pressing the button will do nothing. It’s only there for firefighters, emergency personnel and maintenance workers, who can override the delay with a key or a code. So, the next time you walk up to a pedestrian crossing or hop onto an elevator, don’t waste your time pushing buttons……..it’s likely they don’t work anyway.
