# Escalator Handrails **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411 "2007-07-19T16:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/21 "2007-07-20T21:08:12Z")
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net] This is a deliberate design decision. Escalator handrails are **supposed** to go faster than the steps. It was discovered early on in the history of escalators that this was needed. Generally, they are only slightly faster than the steps. If properly adjusted. [/QUOTE] This sounds to me quite a bit like urban legend. As if someone is trying to invent a reason for not properly adjusting the things. I cannot conceive of any good reason that you wouldn’t want the two in synchronous motion. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/22 "2007-07-20T21:12:51Z")
[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger] Wikipedia doesn’t seem to say, either, but does mention the speeds aren’t the same. Odd. Unless they just run the “up” escalator backwards. 😉 [/QUOTE] Where did Wikipedia mention the speeds aren’t the same? Indeed, Wikipedia notes that one safety feature is a sensor that stops the drive if there is a difference in speed (presumably substantial) between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/23 "2007-07-20T21:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Where did Wikipedia mention the speeds aren’t the same? Indeed, Wikipedia notes that one safety feature is a sensor that stops the drive if there is a difference in speed (presumably substantial) between the two. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Most escalators have moving handrails that **approximately** keep pace with the movement of the steps. I read that as saying they don’t _exactly_ keep pace. I also don’t think they can adjust the relative speeds after installation. It seems to me that would be a specification that would be inherent in the design. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/24 "2007-07-20T22:09:32Z")
I agree that it sounds a bit UL-ish. But, if it turns out to be true, one reason to have the up-direction rail go a bit faster than the steps could be to prevent the opposite condition. That is, if the rail went a touch slower, then the upper half of granny (leaning against the rail) would slowly drift behind granny. Recovering one’s balance in that situation means stepping backwards, which would send granny a-tumblin’ down. I pulled that straight out of my aaoogah, though. I really don’t have a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/25 "2007-07-20T22:15:34Z")
What if there was an airplane on the escalator? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/26 "2007-07-20T22:53:14Z")
I’ve gotta say that I’ve never noticed them to be out of sync on the many, many times I’m stuck behind some inconsiderate group of lazy, stationary butt-holes that won’t stand to the left on escalators or moving walkways. I’d always imagined there was a mechanical lock. So, this is actually pretty enlightening. ---
**Author:** ![JHenderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@JHenderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHenderson)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/27 "2007-07-21T00:39:20Z")
I’m a stander, definitely. I see it in the same vein as walking into a store that has both an automatic door and a regular door- sure, it takes almost no effort to open the door (walk up stairs) yourself, but if a machine is doing it for you, why not let it? It is certainly more pronounced on longer escalators (like some of DC’s metro stops) and moving walkways (like Denver International Airport) but is is definitely noticable even on single-flight escalators. Try it. Next time you get on an escalator, clamp down right next to your step, and enjoy the ride. By the time you’re at the top, your arm will be fully spanned out. I’m also going to point out that I live in a state, Wyoming, where it is commonly known (though not verified) that we are the only state in which there are no escalators. I’m more curious about the handrails, but does anyone know if this is true? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/28 "2007-07-21T13:59:14Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] I’ve gotta say that I’ve never noticed them to be out of sync on the many, many times I’m stuck behind some inconsiderate group of lazy, stationary butt-holes that won’t stand to the left on escalators or moving walkways. I’d always imagined there was a mechanical lock. So, this is actually pretty enlightening. [/QUOTE] Do you really want them standing on the left? Or did you mean right? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/29 "2007-07-21T15:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=JHenderson] Try it. Next time you get on an escalator, clamp down right next to your step, and enjoy the ride. By the time you’re at the top, your arm will be fully spanned out. [/QUOTE] Maybe the guy designing it didn’t actually take into consideration anybody doing this, let alone anyone caring. And so as long as the gearing ratios for the two drive mechanisms made things approximately right, he was happy. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/30 "2007-07-21T21:46:16Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy] Do you really want them standing on the left? Or did you mean right? [/QUOTE] D’oh! Good catch. A group that doesn’t _liberate_ the left and does stand to the right. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411/31 "2007-07-22T02:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] D’oh! Good catch. A group that doesn’t _liberate_ the left and does stand to the right. :smack: [/QUOTE] Actually, that varies by country, too. It mostly matches the way they drive on roads, but not always. So in the USA, we drive on the right side of roads, pass on the left, and say “Slow Traffic Keep Right”; and if people want to walk on escalators they are supposed to pass on the left side while people stand on the right. But in the UK, they do the same on escalators, even though they drive on the opposite side of the road. This doesn’t seem to be a real set pattern at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-handrails/412411.md?page=1)