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Comment by koolba | Hacker News Reader

> The Radar Key opens handicapped toilets around the country that are otherwise locked.

I’ve never heard of this type of thing in the USA. Handicap stalls, if available, are just next to the rest of the stalls in any given location. They’re usually a bit bigger to accommodate a wheel chair, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a special entry mechanism.

Is the UK version a physical key or some RF tag?

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It's just a physical key. Like the keys for operating train equipment or fire safety they're not intended to prevent malicious access, they're a social signal - this is for people who need it. You're not clever for figuring out how to abuse it, you're just a bad person.

The bad person is the one who decided to lock and downsize public toilets. All the arguments about taxes are about money for public good that market can't solve, well where is it?

It's a physical lock-and-key key: https://shop.disabilityrightsuk.org/products/radar-key.

Living in a country where it's the norm, the concept of (any) locked bathrooms is wild. When travelling I always always find restricted access (either by key, or payment) public facilities extremely jarring.

A lot of newer toilets in the USA are single occupancy rooms for families and disabled. Of course, this also makes them easier to use for drugs and camping, so locking them down in urban areas is pretty important.

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