Another March 19 is coming, and with it, another opportunity to celebrate the efficacy and convenience of automatic doors that enhance daily access to a multitude of venues. The American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers sets aside March 19 to observe National Automatic Door Day. It’s a lighthearted way to acknowledge how these inventions have positively impacted daily existence.

Nearly 99 percent of consumers prefer automatic doors over manual doors. And why not? They’ve been “opening doors” for all of us for decades, making it easier to wrangle packages, boxes, strollers, etc. On a more serious note, although the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t require an automatic operator for a door to be considered accessible, facility managers, retailers, restauranters and operators/owners of other public spaces installing automatic doors help ensure accessibility for all. Automatic doors also help strengthen building security and even help to keep us germ-free.

For these and a multitude of other reasons, we celebrate all the ways, great and small, that automatic doors impact our daily lives on March 19.

To mark the occasion, AAADM is creating awareness of the event on social media, as have automatic door manufacturers. The tongue-in-cheek posts suggest that the wonder of automatic doors is more impressive than significant life moments, such as a baby’s first steps, your wedding day or a mountain sunrise. Other posts imagine what people from the past who had to use washboards to do their laundry might think of our modern-day convenience.

The automatic door industry has been making life better for decades, with innovations that have added greater convenience, kept us safer and made us more mobile. March 19 is the one day out of the year when we pause amidst the hustle and bustle to recognize the impact of this modern wonder.

For more information about National Automatic Door Day and the marvel that is automatic doors, visit https://www.aaadm.com/.