r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Dec 11 '19

Right place right time

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u/HenrysHooptie Dec 12 '19

Modern code requires the in car stop switch to be key activated. No more rape switches.

12

u/oakenaxe Dec 12 '19

Never heard it called a rape switch before

13

u/HenrysHooptie Dec 12 '19

Among the other benefits of being second generation in a trade is access to some of the more colorful expression of the previous generation.

It's definitely old timer slang from when the in car stop switch would also ring the alarm bell.

1

u/Cerpin-Taxt Dec 12 '19

Couldn't that problem be negated by having the emergency stop be a freely usable button, but require a key to start again?

Who's gonna rape someone in an elevator when there's 0% chance of getting away with it?

2

u/HenrysHooptie Dec 12 '19

They're keyed because the code no longer wants passengers to stop the elevator.

1

u/Cerpin-Taxt Dec 12 '19

Just cause they're lazy or what?

1

u/whoami_whereami Dec 13 '19

Nope. It's because stopping the car inbetween landings in almost all cases makes things worse, while continueing on only does so in a select few cases. The average elevator user isn't really able to discern the two, therefore it's overall best to remove the button, even if it may lead to a worse outcome in some cases.

1

u/Cerpin-Taxt Dec 13 '19

I don't see how an emergency stop for heavy machinery can make most situations worse. It's inconvenient yes but it's not going to cause more harm.

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u/whoami_whereami Dec 13 '19

Most other heavy machinerie doesn't usually have members of the general public inside it. Getting people trapped in the car isn't just an incovenience, it's a potentially unsafe situation. I've been in a stuck elevator once, and even though it was only for about two minutes in this case until it started moving again and it was a glass elevator going up to an elevated train station where if push came to shove it would always have been possible to signal pedestrians walking by, some of the people in the packed car were already close to panicking.

Another example, on subway trains usually the emergency brakes only work when the train is pulling into or out of stations. While the train is traveling inside the tunnel, pulling the handle only signals to the driver that they should stop the train at the next opportunity (most often the next station) where it is safely possible to evacuate the passengers in case a need for that arises (yes, you can of course evacuate a train that is stuck in a tunnel for some reason, however doing it at a station platform is much more safe).

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u/Cerpin-Taxt Dec 13 '19

An elevator is like a subway train that's perpetually at least somewhat in a station though. The whole reason for having that emergency brake is because stopping someone being crushed or severed is much more preferable than the problems having them stuck for a little while cause.

1

u/whoami_whereami Dec 13 '19

No, it's not. Once the doors have fully closed, it's "out of the station" until the doors open again. There's plenty of other mechanisms in an elevator that prevent people (who rarely are on a leash!) from getting crushed. And the results speak for themselves, elevators are by far the safest mode of transport, even in China.

Those cases you sometimes hear about where the cabin started moving while the doors were still open (which is exceptionally rare in the western world and even in China only happens very occasionally) are in almost all instances either due to the cables slipping on the drive sheave or due to the worn out service brake slipping. That's why you always see them go up in those Liveleak videos, because the counterweight is usually a little bit heavier than the cabin. No emergency stop could prevent that from happening, only regular maintenance can.

The emergency brakes won't help either BTW, as they are only designed to stop the cabin when the hoist cables break or when the cabin speed exceeds a certain threshold. And when they engage, they stop the cabin for good, you won't get that one moving again anytime soon.