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It's an honest question. What is the problem with using the button? It's not strictly for handicapped people. It's handicap access, just like a ramp or elevator. My father's nursing home only had one door with a handicap button. I think we all truly want to know, not being snarky!
Not only is it okay to use the automatic doors, I'd add that in many public bathrooms it would be ridiculous not to use the handicap stall too, particularly in women's bathrooms and even more so when there are only 2 or 3 toilets. Is this why the ladies take so long in the loo? Are they all lining up and ignoring the handicap stall? I doubt it. When was the last time you saw a handicap stall used by a handicap person? In the 27 years since the 1990 ADA law passed I've seen someone in a public restroom in a wheelchair exactly twice!
There are no laws forbidding the use of the automatic handicap door opener just as it's not against the law to use a handicap logoed toilet. The auto door opener and the toilets are for anyone to use. The logo let's the handicapped know that they have a convenience there that they can use.
I work with handicap people on a daily basis and know all the rules and regulations.
The reason they have those logoed conveniences is that the Federal Government requires businesses to have them available to the handicapped in case that person is in need of that convenience.
I see people with packages use them daily, no big deal.
Not only is it okay to use the automatic doors, I'd add that in many public bathrooms it would be ridiculous not to use the handicap stall too, particularly in women's bathrooms and even more so when there are only 2 or 3 toilets. Is this why the ladies take so long in the loo? Are they all lining up and ignoring the handicap stall? I doubt it. When was the last time you saw a handicap stall used by a handicap person? In the 27 years since the 1990 ADA law passed I've seen someone in a public restroom in a wheelchair exactly twice!
Nope. That's one I avoid. If the restroom is so crowded that only the handicap stall is available, chances are there's a good crowd in the building and someone may actually need the access. I can wait until a regular stall is available. And I see women in wheelchairs or with canes use the handicap stall a lot - particularly at concerts, museums and other events.
OK CSD, like it or not, this is your opportunity to make this a teachable moment.
It sounds like what you're saying is that if the doors were used prior to a person in a wheelchair going thru the doors would have remained open but shut after a set number of seconds. And that the door doesn't have a laser "eye" to insure that the door isn't being blocked by a person or object. Correct? If so, it seems this is something that should be corrected immediately. Not only could it injure someone in a wheelchair or who isn't able to get thru the door quickly but if a child wandered in thru the open door, the door could close on them. This seems to be more of a safety failing than a courtesy issue.
Am I understanding the issue here?
If all these buttons work as those at my local post office, when closing, if the button is pushed again, it prevents the door from closing and reopens it if it was closing.
I could not quite understand what CSD was saying either, but I don't think this is it.
Have you ever had your wheelchair or hand stuck in a door that automatically opens and closes when someone who is not handicapped has used it? When you do have that happen and you get stitches from it you let me know how much negative impact you *did not* have.
So really, the reason (so you say) is because you were injured by a door that didn't have a working safety mechansim, triggered by someone who you assume was not handicapped using the door ahead of you. But it must have been the fault of the person and not the door.
How do you know the person ahead of you didn't have a disability you could not identify?
If what you say is true, then the problem wasn't the person but a faulty door that closed on you.
At my last job we had these doors and I would use the button to wheel out my photo equipment. If I crossed the threshold with one of the cases, the door would re-open on its own. That might've been an upgrade for safety maybe, the building was built in the 80s.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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If he was mumbling something, I would have never responded in the first place. If he cannot even properly verbalized his beef with you, he doesn't even deserve the respect of a response. I agree with the most that OP didn't do anything wrong with using the handicap button.
I was walking towards the mall entrance today and instead of reaching for the door, I pressed the button with the handicap (wheelchair) picture that releases the door.
This smart ass behind me mumbles something, but I didn't hear what it was.
I immediately turned to him- "What did you say?"
He was surprised I turned around and he didn't say anything, then I said "What did you say?!" again.
"You shouldn't use the handicapped button if you're not handicapped" he remarked.
"Shut up & mind your own business you %#@*" I snapped back.
He looks away and doesn't say anything and walks ahead.
I may have over-reacted but who else agrees he just needs to keep his mouth shut, I didn't break any law and he himself just went thru those doors that opened with that same button.
My experience with those is that the handicapped door, when pushed, activates anyway, and makes the door much harder to push. So, yeah, I push the button. My sister, a nurse, says it's better to use the push button on those doors, because of that and forcing the door to go faster than it wants causes the door mechanism to break or fail much faster.
More than that, I have yet to run into a place that has them, where there are other non handicapped doors. Most places have auto open doors...
Have you ever had your wheelchair or hand stuck in a door that automatically opens and closes when someone who is not handicapped has used it? When you do have that happen and you get stitches from it you let me know how much negative impact you *did not* have.
I honestly cannot visualize what you are trying to describe but I especially don't understand how an automatic door opens differently for a non-handicapped user than it does for someone who is handicapped and how some type of accident could only occur from a non-handicapped person using it.
In the 27 years since the 1990 ADA law passed I've seen someone in a public restroom in a wheelchair exactly twice!
Not all people with a handicap use a wheelchair.
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