Slackers II
So my office building has one of those ADA-inspired or -mandated (not sure what the law says, exactly) automatic doors for folks with disabilities. The idea is that if you're in a wheelchair or crutches, you can come up, hit this big button, and the doors will automagically swing open for you. This is probably extremely helpful to those people who cannot otherwise open the door themselves, and I applaud our building management for being so considerate/within the legal requirement.
What irks me is that people who clearly do not have physical impediments preventing them from operating the door without mechanical assistance use this button. Okay, I can understand if you have a stack of books or a couple of coffees in your hand... sure, pressing the button would be easier than balancing everything and then pulling or pushing on the door.
But otherwise, it's kind of sad. Like just today, I was behind a 6 ft. tall guy, pretty well built, walking without any noticeable limp on his own two legs, with two arms that appeared completely functional, and he uses the button. Which, by the way, has a big blue handicapped sign on it. I mean, the guy probably works out at the gym every night, but he can't trouble himself to use those muscles that he works out to tone. Have you no shame? Right.
And then there's the people who press the button behind me when I'm already in the process of opening the door for them. This annoys the hell out of me because once the motor gets engaged, the door is actually slower to open than if I just pull/push it myself. So they're actually actively slowing me down and being complete lazy bums.
Of course, all of this makes complete sense in the context of America as a whole. We are a nation of shameless, lazy bums, yes we are. Man, I'm feeling proud today.
Comments
28 CFR Part 36, Appendix A4.13 covers doors. A4.13.11 covers maximum force amounts for opening ADA-compliant doors (3 lbf, or 13.13N). Often, you can't construct a suitable door that has that little force, so an Automatic Door is installed instead (as defined in A4.13.12). The requirement for such a door as an entrance is defined (for new construction) in A4.1.3(7)(a): "At each accessible entrance to a building or facility, at least one door shall comply with 4.13." Alterations to existing buildings are basically covered in A4.1.6(b), which requires compliancy with A4.1.1-A4.1.3 for all alterations — which is required in the actual code of the act in 28 CFR 36.402(a)(1).
In short, you don't have to, but sometimes it's the only practical way to manage an ADA-compliant door that meets all the other structural requirements for that door.
For details, please see http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/reg3a.html .
Posted by: Scott Swanson
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July 8, 2005 4:50 AM