>>Just look at your malls and entrances to public buildings. Any staircase, no matter how wide and how not really steep, MUST have the handrails every four meters (or a certain number of feet, whatever). I've seen two steps connecting the levels of a mall, no taller than six inches each, and they had two railings. Just take a look at buildings anywhere else in the world and count the number of handrails on wide, short and generally not steep stairs. The US are the only country where this is some kind of law... or a direct influence of ambulance chasers. They've managed to instill the fear of litigation into everybody's minds, to the point where you don't even think about it, just behave like that without second thought.
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>Is it litigation or accessibility? We have two steps up on our front walk and originally had no railing. As our parents aged, they pushed us to get one to help them get in and out of our house.

The explanation I got was litigation. Because there are regular handrails on the ends, plus the accessibility ramp on the side. The only reason why a 5m wide set of two steps would need two more handrails at about thirds of the width is the fear of ambulance chasers.