Mobile Toilet Flyer

The term 'Mobile Toilet Flyer' refers to an accidental incident where, due to workers' negligence, a person using a mobile toilet is lifted and transported to a highway along with the toilet.

Incident Details

Two similar incidents occurred in Baoding, Hebei. On May 11th, after the Baoding Marathon, the organizers were clearing the mobile toilets at the venue. When workers were loading them onto a truck with a crane, a woman, distracted by her phone, was lifted along with the toilet onto the truck and ended up on the highway. When she realized what had happened, the strong wind made it impossible for her to call for help, and jumping off the truck was dangerous. She had no choice but to experience a 'highway toilet sightseeing tour' until the truck reached its destination and the workers unloaded the cargo, only then discovering someone inside the toilet. At 3:17 p.m. the same day, at a highway service area in Hebei, a 26-year-old woman named Zhang entered a mobile toilet at the service area. Suddenly, the toilet was pulled off the ground by a hook-and-chain truck and rushed onto the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, embarking on a 28-kilometer 'flying man' mode. The transport driver skipped the standard procedure of 'inspecting around the vehicle three times'. The mobile toilet had good sound insulation, and Zhang, who was watching short videos on her phone, didn't notice until the vehicle shook and the horns outside blared. The incident lasted for 23 minutes. A patrolling traffic police officer spotted the situation and stopped the vehicle. Zhang had already called 110, and her phone's location showed that she had traveled past two more service areas.

Exposed Issues

• Workers' negligence: Before recycling mobile toilets, no one checks if there is anyone inside, posing a significant safety hazard.
• Warning for 'phubbers': Users are so engrossed in their phones that they ignore real-world dangers. Modern people's dependence on mobile phones can sometimes lead them to overlook risks.
• Safety procedure loopholes: The organizers and transport companies may not have followed standard operating procedures. The mobile toilet industry generally suffers from the chronic problem of 'emphasizing transportation over inspection'. Among the more than 100,000 mobile toilet dispatches nationwide each year, only 37% of drivers perform a complete inspection procedure. Moreover, the product descriptions of popular mobile toilets sold on Taobao do not include a warning clause such as 'Do not lock the door from the inside while using the toilet'.
• Design flaws: The sound insulation performance of mainstream mobile toilets on the market generally reaches 35 decibels, which can block highway noise from the outside but also trap cries for help inside.