- This entire thing, falls down, and we all die.
I've seen Speed.
- Speed with Keanu Reeves from 1994,
is what she's basing her fear of elevators on.
(ominous music)
(bell rings)
- So every time I'm in an elevator with Becky,
she always freaks out, and thinks that we're going to die.
- Because I am terrified of getting stuck in an elevator.
Every time I ride one, I scan possible escape options,
just in case shit goes down.
- I've talked with a firefighter,
an actual certified elevator journeyman,
to get some real facts on the subject.
Becky, what are you actually afraid of happening,
in an elevator?
- One of my biggest fears is getting stuck in an elevator,
and it losing oxygen.
- Every single elevator is ventilated.
Take a look, here, all the way around.
Look at all those vents.
Elevators are not airtight boxes,
they keep them ventilated for your safety.
You want to try to escape an elevator?
- Yes, pry open the doors, to live.
- So you mean something like this?
(ominous music)
No, stuff like that only really happens in the movies.
Most modern elevators come equipped with a door restrictor,
which allows the doors to open only four inches
when the elevator is stuck between floors.
If you do get it open, you're still putting yourself
in so much danger--
- I don't believe that.
- Here are some stats for you.
First, there was a woman in Long Beach, California
that was crushed by an elevator trying to escape.
There was another young man, who was killed
on New Year's Eve as he was helping another woman
to safety.
However, if everyone had stayed on the elevator
in the first place, no one would have been injured.
And finally, there's another young man
in Williamsburg, who was crushed by an elevator
as he was trying to escape.
So what's your next fear?
- Essentially, we would be forgotten.
This has actually happened.
I know this has happened!
There was the guy in New York,
who was forgotten for 41 hours,
and the woman in China.
She died!
She was left in an elevator for a month.
For an entire month!
- Those are both freak occurrences.
- My theory is that we would get trapped in this,
forgotten, and I would have to have you probably
open this thing up and then we would get out.
- So here's the hatch on top of the elevator.
Only one person has a key to open it up,
so it can only be opened up from the outside,
and not from the inside.
So there's no point in you trying to get through,
even if you did get through it would be incredibly dangerous
and would increase your chances of getting injured
a hundred fold.
- My third fear is that a malfunctioning elevator
has the great potential to free Fall, and then we all die.
Splat!
- The most memorable account of an elevator free falling,
took place in 1945.
When a B-25 Bomber crashed into the Empire State Building,
severing the cables, causing the elevator
to come crashing to the floor.
The reason you are safe is because
there are two different guide rails, one on each side.
They are held together by two different guide shoes
on each side.
You have this entire piston with a column of oil
holding it solid, in the jack below.
You've got the buffer springs.
It's almost 0% that an elevator is just going to free fall
down to the ground.
- Even if the power goes out?
- So if the power goes out in the elevator,
it's just going to stop right where it is.
Now I'm going to show you, what you're actually supposed
to do if you ever get trapped in an elevator.
It's a little boring really.
- What are we doing here?
- First, push the alarm button, hopefully someone comes,
if not, wait a minute, push the call button
see if you can get in touch with somebody,
sometimes that's out, it doesn't work,
then you have the fireman button.
Hit that and the fire department is alerted right away.
So at that point, the only thing you can do, is wait.
- How long are we waiting for?
- The average waiting time is 30 minutes.
- We are not waiting in this fucking elevator
for 30 minutes.
- Time to wait, come on.
- No, no, no!
Josh, get up. No, Josh, you --
(ominous music)
- Now we did what we were supposed to do.
You're supposed to stay on the elevator and wait.
So now that she's done that, someone's coming to rescue her.
Look at that, Becky!
- Yeah, let's just, - We're ready to go.
- Let's, yep, yep.
(triumphant music)
- You did it.
You just beat your fears, like how exciting is that?
You gotta feel good, huh?
- No, I hate you.
- What?
- I just hate you and I hate elevators,
we need to end this video.
- So we're--
- We are cutting, and this is over.
This was a, - I guess that's a cut.
- I hate you.
- I thought it was pretty awesome, I don't know.
- I hate you Josh.
- Becky, you just faced your fears.
- Oh, no!