Earlier while discussing with a friend the idea of what is a dangerous design, she came up with the ideas of elevators. This was a new idea to me, since elevators are generally thought to be safe (although people with that phobia will disagree.)
I decided to humor her and set about to discover how dangerous elevator could be to humans and society. First, I believe that the most important thing to understand is that an elevator is a vertical transport that moves between floors. These elevators are usually powered by electric motors, cables, counterweight systems (like hydraulic fluids or pumps). The idea of elevators would generally be considered utopian since it is thought to help the handicap move about much more easily. I would agree until reading how its is only cables that holds a very heavy compartment up.
Elevator, image from http://www.ltfexperts.com/elevatorsescalators.htm
Now generally, elevators are safe, in fact it is considered one of the safest vehicle systems, so don’t let my own anxiety fool you. Generally if there is an elevator problem it is due to the door’s inability to open. Thus far, there are no cases of free-falling elevators that kill its occupants. Most of the deaths are maintenance related or other easily avoidable accidents.
Image from http://www.jakesnewblog.com/tag/heights/
This brief study on elevators made me realize that the design for elevators is not dangerous, its is the idea that people place in their own minds. To me it seems that people fear what they do not know, and since most people do not know that elevators are generally the safest vehicles of transport, they will continue to fear it. I was a little fearful at first knowing that all that holds me up from certain death is a bunch of cable wires, until I understood that elevators are engineered to conform to a basic standard that must meet the basic requirements and safety standards of the US.
Thus this fear is purely unintentional, but instead perpetuated by movies in society that instill a sense of fear into its consumers by showing scenes of free-falling elevator compartments.
An example of such a movie is called The Shaft, a horror/thriller about a evil possess elevator
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