Fed up about cars ending up in yard because of driving too fast

[stryped]

Any idea on what I can do about people driving too fast and sliding around a curve landing in my front yard? The speedlimit is 35 but they drive about 60. I got home to find huge ruts in my yard the other day.

I have talked to the county executive , judge madjestrate, highway department. I have written letters and attached photos.

I was thinking of putting a fence up using 6x6 posts in concrete but wondered if somehow someone would try to sue me if they got hurt.

I have a daughter and a son on the way and their bedroom faces the road. I am scared to death someone is going to end up in my house!

I can attach pictures if that helps. I am just so fed up right now I dont know what to do.

[Joseph Meehan]

How about a sign. "Parking $1,000 + $200 per hour" Then just send a bill to anyone who ends up in your yard.

[John Hines]

Yep they would. Try evergreen bushes, they would catch the vehicle w/o so much chance of injury, and give you a plausible excuse (decorative value) to defend yourself with. Otherwise, you'll have to comply with a myriad of highway safety rules, if you put up something immovable along the roadway.

Something really viney and thorny would work also.

[Greg]

Big rocks are a better solution. They are less dangerous for the drivers but they will leave some marks the car will be wearing for a while. They also look more natural. You can plant flowers around them, land scape lighting etc. That is what the ritzy developments do here to keep people from driving around their gates and still not have an ugly fence.

[stryped]

Any idea on what I can do about people driving too fast and sliding around a curve landing in my front yard? The speedlimit is 35 but they drive about 60. I got home to find huge ruts in my yard the other day.

I have talked to the county executive , judge madjestrate, highway department. I have written letters and attached photos.

I was thinking of putting a fence up using 6x6 posts in concrete but wondered if somehow someone would try to sue me if they got hurt.

I have a daughter and a son on the way and their bedroom faces the road. I am scared to death someone is going to end up in my house!

I can attach pictures if that helps. I am just so fed up right now I dont know what to do.

[xrongor]

why dont you document some of the speeding/damage with a video camera and threaten to sue the city..

randy

[bumtracks]

one road I travel, its a curvy shortcut to the suburban secondary little Post Office, road is marked as scenic bicycle trail - normal unmarked residential speed limits are 30 mph here and they, the city, put up 25mph signs and within a year put up big speed bumps every so often and 15mph signs at the bumps which are ..extra humpy-bumpy... or something,, and additional 15mph signs at the curves. I assume neighborhood complaints mailed to the appropriate city street sign department or area city commissioner got attention.

[Greg O]

Yup! Rocks, not big enough to kill anyone, just big enough to screw up their car when they drive over them. Basket ball size. Add some landscaping, a few small bushes and some flowers. After they get towed off your rocks you can get their insurance information for the damage caused to your landscape. Those proffesional landscape companies really charge some big bucks! You may even make a few dollars in the end! Greg

[Jim Yanik]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Plant trees(the bigger,the better),we need the Oxygen too.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I'm not a lawyer but I'd not be surprised if someone sued you and actually won. On an episonde of "Extreme Makeover- Home Edition" they has a house with a similar problem. They installed barriers that would pop up once a sensor was crossed. Sounds like a very expensive solution though.

Think: landscaping!

A few good sized shrubs would help as well as some rocks. Make the rocks large enough to cause some damage, about 12 to 18" high. Idealy enough that they would even get stuck so you could call the police or at least take a photo of the car and plate so the police can go after them.

You also want to check where your property line actually starts. In most cases, the town right of way extends from a few to twenty feet from the road edge. If you obstruct that portion the town could possibly come after you for something.

It would also be good if you can document the traffic and the speed. That would put the liability backk to the police and highway department to actually do something to enforce the laws.

You can always park a junk car right on the curve!

[Greg]

They use big rocks here. Things that weigh a significant part of the weight of a car but being low they duplicate the things used in NHTSC tests with less than half the kinetics, so the car does OK. A post can slice through a car.

[Harry K]

If you do put up something, make sure it complies with local regulations so you can't be sued for damages. For example a fence on the right of way would probably be a very bad choice.

Harry K

[MUADIB®]

Thought about moving?............For The Kids Sake?

This is not a flame type suggestion. I too live on a curve.......... On the outside, just like you describe. However I am in a fairly snug little neighborhood so Speeds are not terribly high so far. I just moved here in may and have already felt that nagging feeling about living on a curve. cars coming up my street shine their lights right into the bedroom window too..................Dark shades help with that. But the big tree that sit's near the property line is a bit of a help too.

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

one small step for man,..... One giant leap for attorneys.

[Phisherman]

[zxcvbob]

Of course they will try to sue you, but if the fence is on your property, and not on the road's right-of-way or easement, they will lose.

I would put up a fence, using a couple of 8" concrete posts with about three strands of 3/4" wire rope stretched loosely between them.

Buy a big old car or pickup for about $200, park it just inside your property line with a "FOR SALE $1200" sign on it. When someone crashes into it, you can collect about $1000 from their insurance company and use the proceeds to buy another one and pocket the difference.

Bob

[Ann Onymous]

It's somewhat of a myth that _anything_ can prevent you from being 'sued'. If somebody wants to sue you, they can and will, for pretty much any reason.

Mitigating measures can be taken to lessen the chances of _losing_ a lawsuit, but that's an entirely different thing, and often only happens after you pay your lawyer a bundle in any event.

[kissedtwice]

Just dig a moat and fill it with about a foot of water. Once the car goes off the road into the moat, they will be stuck in mud for quite awile. Then you can get their license number and sue them for polluting the water in your moat with gasoline, oil, human body parts, and whatever else. Be sure to tell the judge that is your drinking water and from a lack of water you now have a serious debilitating medical condition. With any luck, you will get millions !!!

[GoOgLe]

Got any friends in the military? See if they can get you some "Land Mines". Install the land mines on your own property, right at the curve. If a car lands on your property, it won't last long, and will be blown to shreads. After the police remove the bodily remains, you can collect the pieces of metal and sell them for scrap, . The cost of steel is high right now, so you should come out ahead to pay for the cost of lawn damage. The other plus of this method is that you just got another careless driver off the road, possibly saving someone else's life.

[Harry K]

Sorry but it does create a hazardous situation. A person in town has the same situation. Down hill turn and people end up in his yard, one almost hit his house. Many complaints and the city looked at it. They would allow him to errect jersey barriers on his own lot but not on the ROW. That was run thru the legal department who ruled that both the city and the citizen could and would be sued if it were on the ROW. I was also required to remove a tree that was on the ROW of a state highway in the county. Why me? Don't know, I didn't plant it there and it was probably 40 or more years old.

Harry K

[default]

Doesn't work, all that does is lift the 1.5 tons of moving metal about

6 feet in the air, and separate the parts. They still slam into your house, and now they're on fire.