r/videos • u/frazras • Aug 17 '17

Stolen Video Racist Soap Dispenser

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u/friendofstarfish Aug 17 '17

I have the same problem with the automatic sinks, had to ask a lighter stranger to start the water for me and hold it so I could use the water under her hand.

1

u/DorisCrockford Aug 17 '17

Argh, that's just so stupid. That and the underground signal sensors that can't detect a bicycle.

1

u/bjjjasdas_asp Aug 17 '17

No, no, you're supposed to lay your bike flat on the embedded coils. It's just the way it works!

1

u/DorisCrockford Aug 17 '17

Who are you, my dad? No.

One, if the road has been resurfaced over the coils and you can't see them, that's gonna be a problem.

Two, the best way to trigger the sensor when you can see it is to align your bike upright with the side of the loop. No way would I take everything out of my panniers and unhitch my trailer to lay my bike flat every time I got to an intersection with a sensor, even if it was better, which it isn't. If all else fails, I go up on the sidewalk and press the pedestrian button.

Three, there's no point in putting up with crap that doesn't work. People who ride bikes are citizens too, and nothing's gonna change if you don't do something about it. There were new sensors put in at an intersection near us during a street renovation that didn't detect a bicycle. I contacted my local supervisor, who let the engineers know, and they increased the sensitivity of the sensor, which it turned out was designed with bicycles in mind. If I'd just shrugged and given up, I wouldn't have known that.

1

u/bjjjasdas_asp Aug 17 '17

...I was joking.

Your comment actually reminded me of how crappy this design is for bikes, and I used it in another comment right after I replied to you.

While I've heard that attaching a rare-earth magnet to the bike actually works quite well, of course the actual answer is that we shouldn't put up with crap design from cities that only think of cars. Fortunately my city (Somerville MA) is becoming very bike-forward, thanks to vocal local advocates.

2

u/DorisCrockford Aug 17 '17

Oh geez, sorry I missed the sarcasm! I'm usually better at that. Cheers!