No mail box!

[miamicuse]

Will the post office deliver mail to my door if I no longer have a mail box?

Someone this afternoon slam his car into my mail box, uprooted the metal post, the concrete anchor and completely destroyed the mail box. She backed her car up and drove off without saying a word. I came out of my driveway and saw him drove off and so I went after him in one direction, my neighbor drove off at the same time and looked for him in another direction. I came up empty but he found her and tailed her until she parked at an apartment a few blocks north. When he asked her about why she drove off after hitting someone's property, she said nothing and just walked off. He took down her car model and license number.

I called and spoke to the police they sent someone by to take the information and said basically there is nothing I can do to recover the lost. I was not worried about the lost, I was pissed at the lack of courtesy to at least stop and apologize, she plowed into my front yeard and took out my mail box at a high speed. Shouldn't she at least be ticketed for rackless driving or leaving the scene of a "situation"??? The officer basically shrugged and said I will get a report in a few days, I don't get the idea he will at least go over to this lady's place to issue a warning...

Now, it's too late to erect a new mail box. I won't have it for a few days, what will the PO do when there is not a mail box to deliver to? return the mail? hold the mail or drop at door step?

MC

[Oren]

Yer gittin kinda ballsy following people in Miami. Speak to the Postal person, they do "vacation" holds for mail, just let them know the situation. See if you can at least report the police report to the bitches insurance company.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Bob]

It really depends on your local driver and how nice they are. If you can go to a local store and buy one, you can set it on top of about 4 or 5 cinder blocks. As for the woman, she may have been drunk. You need to find out if she is the owner of the vehicle, so wait for the police report. If you don't get one, then call the chief of police. She may have a relationship with one of the cops. Get some estimates for the work and send her a certified letter with a copy of the estimate. In the letter, clearly state that if you don't get the money within 10 days, you will take her to small claims court.

[RobertM]

Usually no mailbox, no mail. But you can pick up your mail at the post office until you get a new box up. I know the feeling. Someone ran into my car in the parking lot in front of the apartment where I lived. As he drove off, I got his number and reported it to the police. The police wondered why I was bothering them. He looked at me and asked, "Was anyone hurt?" I said, "No." He said, "Then you should be reporting it to your insurance company, not to us." Apparently it is legal to run into someone else's car or property and then leave, at least in Massachusetts.

Bob

[Edwin Pawlowski]

No. You can get away with a temporary setup. If the box is not damaged, you can stick the broken pole in a trash can or ties it to something for a few days. Most of the delivery guys are reasonable , but don't expect them to walk to the door.

Yes, it sounds like they just don't want to bother. Just the other day a car went into a neighbor's driveway by accident. Plic said they will talk tohte driver but nothing else, but if they went ontot he grass and left ruts or hter damage, they would ticket. Sounds like your guys don't have or won't take the time.

Usually hold it. If you are home, you can meet the driver and get it but otherwise he will not leave anything.

[ben.aust]

RobertM wrote: The police

I'm afraid so Bob, It is not a criminal offence to leave the scene of an accident where there have been no injuries, pretty much everywhere.

If it was an accident then there is no deliberate destruction of property and not something the police can get involved in. The owner of the car is obliged to pay for the damage, but the police are not debt collectors.

[cornytheclown]

You were the victim of a crime...you have no rights.

call the post office and ask them what needs to be done..of course they are a government entity also and you most likely wont get a straight answer from them.

[ameijers]

(snip) . Someone ran into

Same thing happened to me here in SW Michigan, a year or so ago. Cops said that unless I saw who did it, they wouldn't even do an accident report. Called my my insurance company, since it had been my understanding a report number was required for hit'n'run claims. They said it was, but they were used to small-town PDs being assholes about it, and paid the claim anyway.

(This is the same PD, that when my apartment was broken into, robbed, and trashed, first asked me whose girlfriend I was screwing, but I digress...)

aem sends...

[Oren]

I thought when I was (/tried) growing up a mail box was the property of the US Postal Service, thus a federal offense to destroy or interrupt the flow of mail service. Cops are actually busy in spite of thoughts of the contrary.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[hallerb]

I replaced a BUNCH of boxes and poles and finally solved it once and for all. kids would take them out all the way down the street....

My NEW pole was a heavy steel I beam set 6 feet in the ground. The next person who hits that post is going to destroy their car, its not going anywhere.easy to know who did it.

I painted it brite white, added lots of reflectors.

That was about 10 years ago, so far no one has hit it. amazing how something substantial fixes carelesness.

[mm]

I'm confused. All he did was drive in to the wrong driveway? Did he harm anything?

I think after the first day or two, they don't even bring the mail with them.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[mm]

Yeah, they just throw it on the grass.

Seriously, what do you want them to do?

I hate women who talk too much.

That's the kind of neighbor to have, and good for you too.

I think so, but the police think they have better things to do. It may or may not be reckless driving, depending on what all she was doing, but I think it is certainly "failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle". (I think these names vary from state to state. To be reckless, I would think you have to be swerving on purpose to see how close you can come to the mailbox, or do make decorations in the snow, or trying to see if you can drive without hands, or putting on her makeup, or reading a book. Maybe if somone is trying to change the station on the radio -- something that is part of normal driving -- and loses control, that is the lesser thing, or maybe that would be nothing at all. I don't know.

I would think the law requires her to leave a note with her actual identity.

Maybe you can call the desk sergeant or someone higher and get them to issue t he ticket(s?), or at least an explanation why they don't.

She should get ticket(s?), not warnings. Warnings are good for burned-out tail lights, or not having a red flag on the end of a load that is, but she consciously left the scene, and you were home no less. She should have knocked on your door.

They'll hold it at the post office. You can pick it up there. Maybe you coudl forward it to your next door neighbor. Even if they have no procedure for that, I forget,, talking to the regular mailman can be very productive if you're nice about it.

This might be a postal crime too. The PO claims it owns the mailboxes we buy. Not just the rural boxes with rounded tops and big front doors, but even the rectangular ones that go next to the front door. They claim no one can put anything else in them except the mailman the mail.

They probably claim to own my mail slot, but they don't know who puts what in that.

Oren is right... Since she doesn't want to pay, find out her insurance company and put in a claim. Both the owner of the car and the driver are responsible, unless the car was stolen. If it was stolen, they should have filed a stolen car report. Or sue her in small claims.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[Oscar_Lives]

My neighbor did that same thing about 10 years ago. He covered his I-beam with wood cut from a tree so it looks like a fencepost.

It is fun to see the pieces of sheetmetal, pieces of glass, anti-freeze, oil, and bumper parts that get left on the ground about once a month. It has been hit at least 20 times and it is still standing straight as the day it went up.

Once a car hit it so hard it pushed the radiator back into the fan and they drunk kids couldn't start it, so they got out and ran. My neighbor had a lot of fun with the car with a sledgehammer and then called the sheriff to report an abandoned junk vehicle left in front of his house!

[Tom]

Since she doesn't want to pay, find out her insurance

You're an optimist if you really think she'll have insurance.

[Toller]

Generally the police will not ticket for something they didn't witness, unless it is pretty darn undeniable.

Obviously you can sue, but it hardly seems worth the trouble. Be thankful you have a good neighbor and let it go at that.

[HeyBub]

Broad daylight. Streets dry. No (provable) alcohol involved. The driver evidently passed the state test for a driver's license. Car properly tagged and safety inspected. In other words, no discernable "cause" for the "accident."

The act, therefore, had to be intentional and there ARE laws in every jurisdiction for malicious destruction of property. Especially mailboxes.

[mm]

How nice was the car? I'd hate to damage my car just to run over a mailbox.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[anoldfart2]

I agree about she should get ticketed.

No, the PO will NOT drop off your mail, unless you are really good friends with the mail person. They will keep your mail at the PO and you will have to pick it up. I suggest you call the PO very early in the morning and tell them. Otherwise your mail will be in the delivery truck all day and you wont get it till the next day.

You can always take a 5 gal pail, put a 4x4 in it, fill pail with sand or cement and make a temporary mailbox holder. I had to do this once because the ground was frozen and left it this way all winter. At least if someone hits it, it just falls over...

----------

[anoldfart2]

Isn't that when you notify the city or county and tell them WHY you are going to REFUSE to pay your local taxes? I mean, isn;t that why we the citizens pay taxes to have law enforcement? Mailboxes are not that costly, but it's still damage to anothers property. I guess these big city cops are too arrogant to deal with small stuff like this...

[Steve B]

"Oscar_Lives" wrote

I bought about six mailboxes for my rural house. The neighborhood hoods would play "mailbox baseball" about every three months. Drive by with a baseball bat, hanging out the window, and hit the mailboxes that were along rural roads.

I set a piece of schedule 40 pipe into concrete. I covered the pipe with 1 bys. I lined a new bright shiny sheetmetal mailbox with 3/8" plate and mounted it to the top of the post. I put it a little droopy in the front where it looked rickety, and yet the rainwater would drain out.

Wasn't long until it took a hit. The door was askew, and that was easily fixed. I continued to replace the box or the flag or door with ones from garage sale mailboxes when it took too good a hit. But I only had to do that about every year.

I guess it was a rite of passage, and with every new crop of driver's licenses came the experience of meeting the mailbox that wouldn't move. Once I found half a bat laying on the ground.

That had to hurt. I would chuckle each time I saw a new ding on the box, and knew that some rowdy punk had gotten his/hers/its lesson.

Steve