Hacker News Reader

Comment by lr4444lr | Hacker News Reader

They have to pay an attendant hourly just to be sure no one is in there while the self clean runs? Why can't it operate based on a weight sensor?

View on HN

Because somebody will step on the sink or somehow else avoid the sensor and then sue for a round sum.

When unmonitored public toilets have had issues with people camping out while partaking illicit substances and other X-rated activities.

I think I'd take my chances with the sidewalk than risk a startups new self cleaning censor. Literally a shit storm

It's not some startups self cleaning sensor, this is old technology that is in several other cities without attendants, and is basically idiot proof. The attendant hopefully makes it american-idiot proof too.

I think the problem isn't making it idiot proof, but making it malicious user who really wants to do heroin in there proof

All the toilets in Paris self-clean between users. You don't need the sensor to work not to get sprayed, just to exit the toilet when a voice says "EXIT THE TOILET NOW, THE SELF CLEANING PROCESS IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.

I used one of these and the self clean cycle started without warning while I was washing my hands. I couldn’t have been in there more than 4-5 minutes. Luckily the door didn’t lock so I was able to escape before getting “cleaned”.

Heck, I cover up the self-flushing mechanism on toilets every time then remove it after. Not a pleasant surprise when it miscalculates.

Even self flushing toilets are often broken. A certain building I worked at I had to jump off quickly and out of the way so it didn't spray up with a trigger happy mega flush.

Kinda hard to do when you’re nodding out on the floor.

Because no startup has made an AI for that purpose yet?

All you need is a PIR sensor

It's cheaper to pay someone $20 an hour 24 hours a day for 20 years than it is to pay out the $4mil lawsuit for when that sensor fails.

I'm not an American, but can/would people sue for getting washed in a self-cleaning toilet? Surely some signs and disclosures would be sufficient?

They’d be injecting hard drugs, especially fentanyl, constantly in this toilet, so signs and disclosures won’t mean much. SF is a rather “special” place, you can’t easily compare to other international cities.

Spoken like someone who has not spent more than a week in SF, probably entirely in hotels or restaurants.

I’ve lived in SF for more than a decade and if I opened the door to a public toilet I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t shooting up inside.

You don't spend much time outside of your house, then.

Are people really shooting up on the streets in Noe Valley? I kept hearing it’s the one nice part of the city.

People in America will sue because the "crunchberries" in breakfast cereals aren't real berries.

That doesn't mean they'll win, but even a bogus lawsuit is expensive and time-consuming.

https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_tosses_suit_cl...

They'd sue for you suggesting they shouldn't!

Easily defeated with a masking tape.

Valid point, public bathrooms in France do this without an attendant

Reply on news.ycombinator.com