14 DAY TRIAL // Adding to the list of unusual things banned in different states, doorknobs are now out of Vancouver's future plans, in order to make space for lever handles that make things easier for senior citizens and disabled people.
In the attempt of making the environment friendlier and more accessible, Vancouver officials decided to encourage the use of lever handles by banning doorknobs and knobbed faucets in future constructions.
All of the existing doorknobs are allowed to stay, at least for now. The new legislation is retroactive, according to Fox News, and it leads towards a plan of “universal design.”
Researchers have shown that disabled people and the elderly population gives a lot of importance to the type of door handle they use, a lever handle being easier to operate than a doorknob because of the amount of strength required. A lever handle doesn't need a tight grasp in order to open, making it easier for physically disadvantaged individuals.
The concept of universal design refers to the fact that everything must be built “so it is as usable by the largest segments of the population as possible,” says Tim Staiton, professor at the School of Social Work from B.C. University. No one really gave levers or doorknobs the attention they supposedly need, until this research.
Some citizens are intrigued by the new legislation, because even if it is set in the direction of the greater good, one's freedom of choice is kind of restricted here. If someone builds a home, a private house, where there are no disabled people or senior citizens, he or she is still forced to use levers and not doorknobs.
Doorknobs are not the only weird interdiction stated by law; in a shortlist of ridiculous, banned things, we can find Iran's ban on spiked hair and plastic mannequins, Saudi Arabia's interdiction concerning Valentine's Day or Valentine’s-related habits, or China's ban on time travel.