Advice to keep cars from sliding into my yard on bad curve.

[Don]

Hey there, got an unusual question:

I live out in the country and part of my front yard is on a curve. Constantly when it is wet outside, cars go too fast around it despite signs being posted and end up sliding in my front yard. There is a small ditch along the road that they go through and into my front yard. Yesterday, someone even took out a bush I had planted at the end of my driveway.

ANy bright ideas on what I could do? I thought about taking a tiller and making the ditch deeper where it would be harder for cars to go through. I even though of welding together some sort of guardrail to but on my side of the ditch.

Any help woould be greatly appreciated!

[Walt Springs]

To avoid lawsuits do not place any rocks or structure that will stop them. You can how ever make a boggy area that will stop them the same way some of the 1/4 mile race tracks use at the end of the track in case someone overshoots. The best part is they will need a tow truck to get out and you will be able to go after them for any damages.Sweet revenge without guns, just mud !

[AJScott]

This is not a DIY project mainly because anything you do short of a major project costing several hundred or a thousand or two won't be solid enough to stop a speeding car or could be against a zoning/building regulation, resulting in the county forcing you to remove it and/or fine you.

Rather, it's a public safety hazard that should be dealt with by your local government -- preferably by installing a guardrail or a cement barrier similar to the ones they put in medians on the highway or in front of federal government offices to help prevent terrorist drive-ups. Contact your county highway/road department or your representative on the county board (also called county commission in some areas).

AJS

[Al Patrick]

I think you have the right idea. Deepen the ditch and then they can ROLL across it into your front porch -- if going fast enough. However, it will probably stop those who aren't speeding toooo fast. Be careful of tampering with anything within the right of way.

You could add a guard rail. Make it LOOK strong enough to demolish the entire car if they hit it. This way they can see it when the road is dry and IMAGINE what will happen if they slide into it. HOWEVER, I'd make it "breakable" so they don't get killed when they hit. . . . Kind of like the highway barriers. Colors: Black & Yellow - alternating!

Talk with the city, county or state that maintains that part of the road and ask if you can BORROW some highway barriers to put up.

Plant trees or thorny bushes along that area.

BE SURE TO KEEP ANYTHING WELL ON YOUR SIDE OF THE RIGHT OF WAY!

• * * * Above all, document costs, get license numbers (tag & drivers) and force several of them to pay -- plenty. * * * * The court publicity will help deter others -- maybe! HIRE the work done and DON'T TAKE THE LOW BIDDER. :-)

Talk to the folks at some cemetery and see if they'll give you some of the flowers they take up off the graves periodically. Take these flowers and put them in a place or two near this curve to make it appear someone has already gotten killed there! ;-) I'm sure you've seen this done along the highway were someone has gotten killed.

Just a few ideas of my own. You may want to check with an attorney before doing any of the above. In this screwed up system a burglar can walk onto your property at night, intending to steal all you have, step into a hole the dog dug in the yard and then sue you and/or your home owner's insurance company for damages to his broken leg, etc. -- AND COLLECT!

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D> Hey there, got an unusual question:

[Bob Paulin]

Don wrote in article ...

In the town I grew up in, one guy had a similar problem with cars failing to make a curve at the end of a high-speed stretch of road, and ending up in his back yard.

He placed some seven to ten-foot tall boulders in the path.

Problem is, in today's litigous society, anything you place in the possible path of a car just might make you libel for injuries that might not have occured if the obstacle was not there, and the person's car simply came to a stop in your yard with no man-made obstacles placed in their path - especially since there is a history/precedent of people walking away uninjured from forays into your front yard prior to you setting up any barriers, etc.

We've all read about burglars suing homeowners for unsafe conditions causing injury while they were attempting to commit a crime. There are lawyers who are willing to launch just about any sort of lawsuit - frivolous or not.

I would lobby the local government for some sort of guardrail, or government-placed barrier - which should absolve you of any responsibility.

I also think a visit to your lawyer to determine what you can do without placing yourself in jeopardy might be a good first step. Get his opinion in writing, if you can.

[Jerry G.]

Do not tamper with anything on the public road, or cause any condition for property damage or injury to the offenders. You should go to the municipal department for your area, and have this properly dealt with. Take some photos as evidence to this concern. I am sure that they would have a legal solution for you. If not, you can make a case, and ask for a public hearing in the municipal court for your county. Just make sure you have convincing evidence.

Putting up a proper barrier with the proper warning signs would be more appropriate. The barrier and any signs would have to be made to be visible both night and day. I am assuming from what you said, that there are signs. Maybe you can convince the city to put up a stop sign near the curve, with a warning sign about 500 feet before the curve. You will then have to put up with the noise of the cars and trucks stopping and starting near to your home, if they do this.

In the mid 50's, my parents had this type of problem, but in the city. We had some streets where there were no stop signs, and people and cyclists were having frequent accidents from cars. My father took photos, and kept records. After about a year, he made a public case. Within an hour he had the judgment passed. They had to make proper crossings, and put stop signs on every corner in the area. Everything was done within the next month after.

[Ecnerwal]

Start by asking the town/county/state (whoever maintains the road) for a guardrail and/or rumble strips based on the history of cars sliding off there. If they put a guardrail up, you don't have the liability issues that Walt already mentioned. A guardrail you put up could get very expensive. A berm (small hill) might be good. Either with hauled in dirt/sand, or by widening ditch, and piling the removed dirt beside it. Don't use big rocks. Widening the ditch is probably more effective (and safer) than deepening it much - will give the bog effect Walt mentioned. Consider planting it with some durable brush, if that doesn't screw up your conception of what the yard looks like - the brush will provide some additional resistance to the cars coming through, and will also make the corner more noticable, so they might slow down more.

[Ian Stirling]

Do they have any right to tow off your land without your permission? Can you dismantle the car, and sell it for parts?

[Doug Miller]

There's a church near us that used to have the same problem...

The church tried a wooden fence, but the cars went right through it. Then they put up a steel guardrail, and the cars smashed that all up. Eventually, they took out the guardrail, and put in a large mound of melon-sized rough stone. End of problem.

[Wayne]

The last house I owned we had the same problem 9 out of 10 drivers just left, leaving me a mess. The few that couldn't leave were so drunk the just looked up. One lady had a car that most have been 2 weeks old. I went to talk to her and she drove off with sticks and grass jammed in her tires. It was a real pain. The town made the mess when they redid the road but would do nothing to fix it. There was a fruit tree there and the bees made a very big nest in it, I just left them be, a few drivers that got out to look got stung but that didn't help my problem.

[Ecnerwal]

In this sort of case, a camera with appropriate sensor (or if you're home, simply eyeballing the license plate) followed by running the plate number with a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, plus the damages, etc. might be of some use.

[AJScott]

This reminds me of an infamous S-curve that was in my neighborhood when I was growing up. The state put up a huge-ass sign along side the curve with a skull and crossbones on it, and beneath that was painted "Slow Down XX Didn't" -- with XX being the current death toll. It was a local landmark for decades and about the only thing it was good for was to give the sign painter more work putting up a new body count every few months.

AJS

[Leo Lichtman]

"Al Patrick" (clip) Talk with the city, county or state that maintains that part of the road

Yes, definitely, talk to the highway people. It is really THEIR problem to solve, not yours. They have more and better facilities to deal with this, and it someone wrecks a car against their barricade, you will in no way be liable.

Another suggestion (this one amuses me), would be to put in a row of hay bales. Actually, hay bales with ivy growing over them might be sort of attractive.

[Bill]

Once upon a time, highway signs, lighting, etc. were designed so that no car could damage them by running into them. Cars hit these things head-on and people died.

Modern highway design makes these things so they will "break away" should a car hit them. The thinking is that a life is more important than material things.

With that said, I would *not* place anything in the path of the cars which would make them stop instantly such as boulders. concrete barrier, etc. On some highways, they have plastic containers filled with sand which are placed in front of bridge piers and other things which would stop a car instantly. When a car hits the containers, the sand goes flying and the car gradually slows down. I'm sure they use a specific type of sand and may or may not fill the containers to different heights???

Also some "run-away" ramps (for when breaks fail on downgrades) use deep sand to slow vehicles down. The tires sink into the sand. I don't know how deep the sand goes or what type of sand they use, but I assure you the government has probably conducted numerous tests to find the best depth and best sand to use.

I have seen some private barbed wire fences on curves where the land owner tied white plastic strips onto the fence every 4 inches or so. This makes the curve more visible at night.

In any case, I would consult with a state or county highway department engineer before doing anything. They would be able to give you safe solutions to this problem and might fix the problem for you. If you could take pictures of the approach (from both directions), curve, your yard, etc. and meet with an engineer in person, you might get better results and answers than just a phone call...

[Ray]

Put a sign up the road before the bend saying "Nudist Colony 1km". Guaranteed to slow cars down, however, honking horns may become a problem.

[AJScott]

With that in mind, a good solution for Tiredofthis might be some huge but decorative boulders spaced about 5 feet apart on his lawn well inside the right of way fronting the ditch. Nothing mountainous, tho. Maybe something in a good rugged limestone about good 3 or so feet high. That ought to provide disincentive enough for even an SUV, and would probably cost no more and be a million times more rugged and effective than anything Tiredofthis could DIY himself.

Hey, who's the world to argue with a man's personal choice of yard decoration?

AJS

[Tim Wescott]

Thick brush is good, if you can find something that's suffiently durable and attractive. It stops cars effectively and safely.

[The Guy]

\>

I live in a suburban area. Speed limits are generally 25 mph here. For years during wet weather, inattentive drivers would speed down a nearby hill and slide across an intersection, occasionally making contact with a house.

The problem was resolved by installing two rebar reinforced cement core columns, with brick facing, just inside the property line. Each column is about 2.5 feet square. In the last decade, about half a dozen cars have jumped the curb and impacted one of the columns. In each case, the driver was cited for careless driving and required to pay for repairs to the column, landscaping and curbs.

A couple of lawyers attempted to push liability onto the home owner and were laughed out of court. One judge told a lawyer that unless a column fell over the property line, unassisted, and landed on someone, liability was just not an issue.

Tim

[Roger Haar]

Don,

Where I grew up there was a curve that was famous for young and the stupid to miss. There was a body shop right there to help.

Thanks Roger

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[Tim Wescott]

responsibility.

Beware! That sort of attitude varys widely (if not wildly) by state -- in California if you spill hot coffie on your crotch then Starbucks is responsible, even if you brewed it at home. In Kansas they laugh you out of the courthouse.