5 Buttons You See Every Day That Actually Do Nothing

Crosswalk buttons

Standing at a busy intersection, you can get impatient waiting for the light to change. So you follow the instructions and press the buttons to make the “walk” signal appear faster. That’s what it’s there for—right?

Well, it turns out that that button probably doesn’t make the “walk” sign appear any faster. Crosswalk buttons were constructed to work like that, but in many cases, it’s been decades since they have. Today, the majority of traffic lights are computerized, which makes most crosswalk buttons, at least in many large cities, obsolete. In 2014, a New York Times article revealed that only 9 percent of the crosswalk buttons in the New York City actually do anything. The city switched to automated traffic signals in the 1960s, with the walk symbols corresponding to the traffic lights. In the 1970s, many other large cities followed suit.

So if these buttons are useless, why don’t cities get rid of them? Well, in New York City alone, there are thousands of buttons, and getting rid of them would be a time-consuming and costly hassle. Plus, we wouldn’t want to spoil the magic for the button believers.

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