'Text to Pee' Service Launched on Finnish Highways to Curb Vandalism

[zekrahminator]

It's pretty obvious that vandalism is not a small issue when it comes to public restrooms, especially those at rest stops on highways. The local highway patrol in Finland decided to do something to curb said vandalism. Called "SMS lock", anyone hoping to utilize a public restroom will have to text something along the lines of "open" to the phone number posted on the side of the stall, subject to standard SMS fees. While this may sound ridiculous for anyone who does not have text messaging on their phone, it actually has a sound reason behind it. Vandals may be a lot less tempted to vandalize if their mobile phone number is tagged to the crime.

Source: Reg Hardware

[Conti027]

i think its a pretty good idea
i hate seeing that crap in restrooms. besides i do tile work so i dont want someone just screwing up my work.

[das müffin mann]

couldnt you crawl under the stall, or use a urinal????

[tigger]

I'd just piss under the door,or crap on the floor outside the stall

It does seem a bit weird tho',what if you dont have a mobile phone i dont.

[das müffin mann]

i have text mess. disabled on mein to expensive

[3991vhtes]

Lol. that's funny

[das müffin mann]

well if you dont have a phone and you really got to go then you could use the sink

[mk_ln]

im not exactly sure what these washrooms look like, but unless the washroom is inspected every time someone goes to the washroom, couldn't the the vandal just say that the vandalism was there before he/she got there? i.e. the person who occupied the washroom before them did the crime.

[Namslas90]

Originally Posted by zekrahminator

It's pretty obvious that vandalism is not a small issue when it comes to public restrooms, especially those at rest stops on highways. The local highway patrol in Finland decided to do something to curb said vandalism. Called "SMS lock", anyone hoping to utilize a public restroom will have to text something along the lines of "open" to the phone number posted on the side of the stall, subject to standard SMS fees. While this may sound ridiculous for anyone who does not have text messaging on their phone, it actually has a sound reason behind it. Vandals may be a lot less tempted to vandalize if their mobile phone number is tagged to the crime.

Source: Reg Hardware

Yeah, this is a good idea. What do you do when somebody comes in behind you with out a cell phone, and tears the place up. You get charged as the last one there...LOL

[flashstar]

This is unfortunately another example of how governments often do not trust their people, ie the growth of the "nanny state".

[wazzledoozle]

Dumb idea. Unless they want to videotape the restroom 24/7, how are they going to link a SMS timestamp to when the actual vandalism happened?

Unless they are counting on people to report that the place has been vandalized...

[HaZe303]

Originally Posted by wazzledoozle

Dumb idea. Unless they want to videotape the restroom 24/7, how are they going to link a SMS timestamp to when the actual vandalism happened?

Unless they are counting on people to report that the place has been vandalized...

Finland Is a small country, and almost 95% have cellphones there. Also I think these restrooms are in small road house bars/gas stations and ppl work there or they are monitored with video. So yes its a smart idea, and I bet they wont use the sms as soul evidence. But they atleast have some clues of who it could be. It propably wont be just a ticked in the mail as maybe it could be in the states or as here in sweden with speeding tickets.

[OnBoard]

Yeah I'm not sure if this is talking about gas stations that are along side the main highways every now and then, or the box toilets that are in the middle of no where at a "P" stops. Propably the first one, as HaZe303 said.

"While this may sound ridiculous for anyone who does not have text messaging on their phone" every phone here has it and those gas station/diner/shops are popular hangaround places for teens, as they ara quite close to the city, like one Shell here open 24/7.

The restrooms are usually free for customers and have 1€ coinslot for the rest. Think they have removed the coin version to the SMS version, payment is the same but now they know who have used it, if there is vandalism. Mostly I'd think it's a preventive measure and seems like a good idea.

EDIT: read the orginal text and based on that picture, it's not a gas station, as the toilets in there are inside. Seems they have proper restrooms in the south, where more people live and traffic is greater.

"Use of the service costs the same as a standard text message in the region." <- it's like 10cents, so that's cheap.

[oli_ramsay]

I would just piss on the door, fuck paying the cost of a text message everytime you need to "spend a penny". The vadals would just grafitti the outside of the shitter anyway so what's the point?

[Xolair]

Ah, us Finns...

It's a unique idea if nothing else.

[btarunr]

Yeah right, my bladders are about to burst, I pull over at rest-room and am asked to go thru a lousy SMS request to open the doors, hell by that time half my pants are drenched. What if the mobile carrier/service is on high-traffic and there's a delay?

Talk about self-vandalism

[jurrasstoil]

Originally Posted by wazzledoozle

Dumb idea. Unless they want to videotape the restroom 24/7, how are they going to link a SMS timestamp to when the actual vandalism happened?

Unless they are counting on people to report that the place has been vandalized...

QFT

This is one of the most useless ideas i've heard recently.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by wazzledoozle

Dumb idea. Unless they want to videotape the restroom 24/7, how are they going to link a SMS timestamp to when the actual vandalism happened?

Unless they are counting on people to report that the place has been vandalized...

Exactly what I was going to say! That have no way of tacking who actually vandalized the bathroom. If you get, lets say, 100 people in the bathroom in the day, how will you know which one of the 100 actually vandalized the bathroom? Yeah, now you have the phone numbers of those 100 people and you know when they used the bathroom, but you still don't know who did the crime. How do you know when the bathroom was vandalized unless you check it after every single person, which isn't possible.

[Black Panther]

Or the person who 'reports' it would have done the vandalism himself, conveniently putting the blame on the previous user!

[Ketxxx]

Screw that I wouldnt pay to piss. I'd much rather take a piss on a friendly nearby tree or wall.

[hacker111]

How muc for the texting...this is rediculous...uncalled for...and expensive...

[lemonadesoda]

I feel sorry for anyone visiting the country who doesnt speak Finnish! LOL. Imagine, poor foreigner trying to use the toilets! Expect the toilet DOORS to be vandalised next, with people trying to get in and use them. Oh, and people without mobile phones... or flat batteries.

Whichever person said 95% have mobile phones is a complete noodle. Perhaps there are a lot of phone contracts... but you telling me that, of the living population, including those that are too young to speak, or too old to use a mobile phone, 95% have phones!? LOL.

Idea 1: I think I'd nick the "device" that accepts the sms and unlocks the door. Imagine using that for other projects ;-P

Question 1: Who do you think came up with this STUPID idea? Man or woman? No, you dont need to answer that one.