Posted on 06/07/2007 1:05:03 PM PDT by Kimmers
Proposal Would Have Doors Swing Out, Not In
BOSTON -- If Bellingham resident Douglas Flavin has his way, all public bathroom doors in Massachusetts will open outward, not inward.
The Legislature's Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight reviewed the bill Wednesday. State Rep. James Vallee (D-Franklin) filed the bill on Flavin's behalf.
Survey: What Do You Think?
"[Think] how easy it would be to prevent germs and disease," Flavin's wife Tracy told BostonNow. "If state residents could open bathroom doors with a knee or elbow instead of a handle."
Flavin also claimed it would prevent litter resulting from people protecting their hands with paper towels.
A representative for the state Department of Public Safety told the newspaper that the state building code does not specify the direction public bathroom doors must open.
Oh my! Let’s imagine you kick the door open and someone is standing on the other side. They might get a nose bleed and everyone woulb be exposed to communicable disease.
Good grief, when will the government quit micro-managing our lives! Oh yeah, never.
These must be some of those creeps who never flush the toilets (presumably to avoid touching anything).
But then the air from the bathroom would be sucked out, instead of the air from the outside being sucked in. This would expose the entire building to odors and bacteria from the bathroom, rather than containing it within the bathroom and having it processed through normal air filtration, not to mention the risk of the door opening on the face of someone passing by or getting ready to enter the bathroom.
No, this is fraught, extremely fraught. Leave well enough alone.
You know, all architects are idiots. They can’t figure things out based on local conditions or usage patterns. What they really need is a bunch of uneducated, ignorant politicians imposing a one-size-fits-all policy from hundreds of miles away.
Let’s make them out of clear glass and you can see if someone is coming or going...
We need less stupid laws, not more. It amy or may not be a good idea, we just don’t need another frickin law!
This is what you get when you have a Legislature in session all year.
Why don’t they just take the doors off?
That’s actually a fetish. Don’t be hating the diversity crowd.
Actually, this really *should* be standard practice.
Dang it. Now that I see it is Massachucetts, why wouldn’t they just put in doors that “swing both ways?”
“”[Think] how easy it would be to prevent germs and disease,” Flavin’s wife Tracy told BostonNow. “If state residents could open bathroom doors with a knee or elbow instead of a handle.”
A survey of cleanliness (germs) in public bathrooms showed that the CLEANEST place was the inside door handle/knob.
Jerry Seinfeld suggested that people be allowed to use rope swings to move in and out of the bathroom, so you can swing in, pee, and swing out without touching anything. Leave it to a germaphobe.
Doesn’t matter which way the doors open; use the paper towel you dry your hands with after washing them to open the door. If there’s a trash receptacle within reach, drop the towel in it as you exit. Otherwise carry it to the next trash can you see after leaving the restroom.
Why do people have to try to make things like this so difficult?
Clare: What’s wrong with the belt?< /seinfeld >Jerry: I went to the movies last night, I went to the bathroom and I unbuckled a little wobbly and the buckle kind of banged against the side of the urinal. So…(throws away belt) that’s it!
Clare: So, you’re insane?
Jerry: Oh yes, quite.
heh, heh. Well said.
They mentioned that people were littering with the paper towels they used on the doors. Of course, it would be easily solved by putting the trash can OUTSIDE, instead of inside.
They could put motors on the doors, so you can just push a button. That also makes them handicap-friendly, I’m surprised in a liberal state like Mass. they haven’t already mandated that every bathroom be wheelchair and double-amputee accessable.
Too busy installing basins for washing feet.
Of course, I’m probably going to slip & fall doing that one of these days and get germs all over me in the process...
Of course, I’m probably going to slip & fall doing that one of these days and get germs all over me in the process...
Funny story. My employer was testing all sorts of auto-gizmos for the bathroom, I guess to handle this whole “i don’t want to touch anything’ phobia.
So they had auto-doors, auto-flush toilets, even auto-dispensing paper towel holders.
But they still had manual faucets. I pointed out that the ONE place in the entire bathroom where there was a REAL chance to get germs was on the water faucets.
Because, it is a certainty that people will touch them with dirty hands, and then have to turn them off with CLEAN hands. Everything else COULD be touched by ONLY dirty hands or ONLY clean hands.
Not really. Air flow direction is a result of pressure differential, created by air in vs. air out.
The door swing direction is essentially irrelevant.
What is she talking about? Doors to get into the bathroom, stall doors, or what?
This is just “crap.”
The state will appropriate millions for a study to prove that people who use public bathrooms will now live longer.
Well I say ther must be “Two” doors! One that swings in to enter and one that swings out to exit! You can’t have one door that swings both ways ... Hmmmm ... well maybe that would require a “Third” restroom!
Yesterday I heard U of Michigan is installing foot-baths in some dorms. Wonder what the taxpayers say about that—thought there was such a separation of church and state yet they can spend money in a State supported school for a religious nicety.
Already been done.
I'll STILL do it!.......
In SF you would see both.........
There is a separation between church and state but mosques represent a political system of rule. No controversy.
Could you imagine how much this would cost business owners??? It’s not just a matter of putting hinges on the “other side” of a door — They’d have to rip out the old doors and doorframes and install completely new ones!!!! We’re talking millions of dollars here.
How about building them with a bigger entrance way and go with no door? Have a blind turn intead (like at airports).
But if you have the labor force that does such work and a parts company that supplies such hinges, you’ve got a goldmine.
PING - Oh boy
Of course he would -- the glass ones would make it that much easier for Clinton to *check out the ladies* ...
I wonder how Seinfeld would suggest we hold the rope.
Shucks. I was looking for a little help in keeping the smoke cloud from exiting in a no-smoking establishment. :-)
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
I don’t think the government should be involved in this, but I have to say that I like the idea. The best public restrooms are the ones that have automatic flush toilets, automatic faucets, and automatic paper towel dispensers. Usually when I get to the door, if it’s not push, I use my paper towel to open the door, and I usually end up doing the half splits trying to get my paper towel into the garbage can. I always feel sorry for people in wheelchairs trying to get in and out of the bathroom door. Ideally, I guess the doors should be automatic or have a push button so that the handicapped can get in and out easier.
Lots of public restrooms don't have doors at all. There is just an open entry way and then a wall or curve that must be walked around.
It works great.
If I find one of those foot-baths, I might just mistake it for a urinal.
Seeing how few people (well, men, that's the loo I use!) wash their hands, I can understand your point. But I'm just as happy with using the paper towel that I wipe my hands with, and a wastebasket near the door to drop it into.
Urinal? I might just sit down. LOL
No, they should equip them with mechanical door openers set up by bumping a switch on the side of the stall. I believe this is absolutely necessary to the safety of our citizens.
And I’m getting into the automatic door-opener business as soon as I see legislation heading that way.
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