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!

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 !




"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!

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!

==================

Don wrote:
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!

Don wrote in article
.. .
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!


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.

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.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!

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.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

In rec.crafts.metalworking Walt Springs wrote:
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 !

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

In article , (Don) wrote:
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.

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

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.

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.

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.

In article , "Wayne" makowicki
wrote:

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.

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.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

"Al Patrick" (clip) 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.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^
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.

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...

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!


Plant oaks.

In the meantime, dig the ditch deeper so they at least can't get out again.
Tell 'em the dogs must have done it.

Large rocks are an option. Tell 'em the wind must have blown them there.

Years ago, the country road we lived on was winding and unpaved, and was
because of those characteristics often used for sports car rallies. One of the
neighbors did just that, and one of the drivers hit the furrows plowed in the
road, then the rocks. Broke an axle spindle. When he came back with a cop,
the neighbor remarked that if he had been driving at a reasonable speed he
would have had no trouble negotiating the obstacles. The policeman agreed that
it was likely that the dogs and the wind were the real culprits.

Today, it might not go over as well.

Last thing I'd do is complain to the town, though. They'd probably take 20
feet of your property to widen and straighten the curve.

John Martin

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.

"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!

On 02 Mar 2004 17:21:18 GMT, (JMartin957) wrote:

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!


Plant oaks.

In the meantime, dig the ditch deeper so they at least can't get out again.
Tell 'em the dogs must have done it.

Large rocks are an option. Tell 'em the wind must have blown them there.

Years ago, the country road we lived on was winding and unpaved, and was
because of those characteristics often used for sports car rallies. One of the
neighbors did just that, and one of the drivers hit the furrows plowed in the
road, then the rocks. Broke an axle spindle. When he came back with a cop,
the neighbor remarked that if he had been driving at a reasonable speed he
would have had no trouble negotiating the obstacles. The policeman agreed that
it was likely that the dogs and the wind were the real culprits.

Today, it might not go over as well.

Last thing I'd do is complain to the town, though. They'd probably take 20
feet of your property to widen and straighten the curve.

John Martin
20 feet less grass to mow, and no ruts might be worth
it------------------------------

"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!

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

\

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.



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


--
No BoomBoom for me! -

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

*****************************************
Don wrote:

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!

"The Guy" wrote in message
...

\

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.



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


--
No BoomBoom for me! -


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.

|^^^^^^^^^^^^
|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.

Just be aware that their idea of a solution may not meet your aesthetic
criteria. You might be looking out your front door at some ugly barricade for
the next several decades.

Rex in Fort Worth

|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???

Water-filled plastic barrels also are used
Rex in Fort Worth

On 2 Mar 2004 06:16:33 -0800, (Don) wrote:

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!

50 gallon oil drums, washed out, tops cut off, drain holes in the bottoms,
painted, filled with soil, pretty flowers planted in the soil. They'll look
nice and stop almost anything :-)


Mark Rand
RTFM

|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.

"Watch for Nudists, next 1.5 miles"
(appropriate sillouhette graphic)
Rex in Fort Worth

Hey Don,

Definitely check with the local road maintenance authority. Ask them
to do something about it so that you won't ever have to sue if one of
your children or grandchildren get killed now that they know about it.
Do not try to put up your own guard rail as they are installed with
some pretty strict design and guide lines. Doing it wrong and
resulting in an injury could see you sued, sadly. Same with making a
water-filled ditch. If a roll-over driver were to drown, you'd be in
hot water VBG.

You could try a big sign that says "NUDIST CAMP AHEAD - WATCH FOR
PEDESTRIANS ALONG SHOULDER OF CURVE". That was a recent suggestion
here on RCM a while back I think.

Or even a radar alert that sets off a rotating red bubble-gum light if
it detects a speed over the recommended signage. Make them think they
see a cop car ahead, but that might be expensive.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
On 2 Mar 2004 06:16:33 -0800, (Don) wrote:

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!

An even prettier solution, with the same result...old whiskey barrels. While
she doesn't have this particular problem, my mom's place has the barrels up
on both sides of her driveway, half filled with gravel and then topped up
with soil. In the summer, they're filled with Purple Wave petunias. In the
winter in Cape Breton (especially this winter, with over three feet of snow
in the yard), they have the added benefit of pointing out where the driveway
is supposed to be.

I'm betting that someone would get hurt if they smucked into them
though...probably through your local transportation department is the best
way to fix this, just like everyone else says.

KD


"Mark Rand" wrote in message
...
On 2 Mar 2004 06:16:33 -0800, (Don) wrote:

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!

50 gallon oil drums, washed out, tops cut off, drain holes in the bottoms,
painted, filled with soil, pretty flowers planted in the soil. They'll
look
nice and stop almost anything :-)


Mark Rand
RTFM

"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!



Outside of the road department, you could:

1. Remove several feet of dirt from the ditch or edge of the yard and
fill with sand. (Put soft drink machine on porch for those waiting for
wrecker, $9 per soda. Install internet access kiosk, slot machines.)

2. Stack two layers of railroad ties on edge of property with dirt berm
on the house side.

3. Buy a wrecker, charge $75 -$125 to pull them out.

4. Make a deal with a local wrecker to be the only approved wrecker,
with a $75 - $125 up charge. Charge storage fee of $75 - $125 per hour
for use of unapproved wrecker.

Be sure to post a sign with the rules and a "Moving this sign
constitutes your agreement and acceptance of the policy and charges."

5. Fabricate a big scary looking high pressure gas main/valve assembly
out of wood and Sonotube with the requisite scary looking danger,
imminent death signs.

6. Put up Day Spa sign. charge $200 per hour to rub mud from ditch on
them.

7. Buy a gutted car of the same model as your local law enforcement,
paint to match and put a strobe in the light bar. Park this in your
yard, if folks don't slow down for that, the "police" car will stop them
from sliding into your yard. You should be OK parking your movie props
anywhere you want. For added protection put a for sale sign in the prop
cop car window.

IIRC, there was this little town with a highway dividing it in two. The
speed limit was too high for the townsfolk but the government entity
would not lower it. The residents along the highway got together and
built a bunch of brightly colored sculptures to place along the
roadside. Cars slow down to get a better look at the sculptures.

Get trashed machine tools, line them up at the property line with sale
signs, charge too much for the rusty stuff. Machine tools may not be
much of an attention getter, but a few 2000 lb chucks of iron will
impede the progress of any car. An old tractor may not be too much of
an eyesore for yard decoration/protection. If it gets hit enough you
may be able to restore it from the proceeds.

It's harder to stop them than charge them.

C

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 20:37:45 GMT, (Rex B)
wrote:

"Watch for Nudists, next 1.5 miles"
(appropriate sillouhette graphic)
Rex in Fort Worth

Better make that an umm... shapely graphic. I sure wouldn't slow down
at the thought of catching a glimpse of your "average" nudist.

I'm reading this in RCM, so the obvious answer is to build one of
these
http://www.thefabricator.com/xp/Fabr...3/03web241.xml
Anybody who won't slow down to look at a dinosaur made out of tractor
parts deserves to crash into it. :-)

Wayne

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 15:41:16 -0500, Brian Lawson
wrote:

Hey Don,

Definitely check with the local road maintenance authority. Ask them
to do something about it so that you won't ever have to sue if one of
your children or grandchildren get killed now that they know about it.
Do not try to put up your own guard rail as they are installed with
some pretty strict design and guide lines. Doing it wrong and
resulting in an injury could see you sued, sadly. Same with making a
water-filled ditch. If a roll-over driver were to drown, you'd be in
hot water VBG.

You could try a big sign that says "NUDIST CAMP AHEAD - WATCH FOR
PEDESTRIANS ALONG SHOULDER OF CURVE". That was a recent suggestion
here on RCM a while back I think.

Or even a radar alert that sets off a rotating red bubble-gum light if
it detects a speed over the recommended signage. Make them think they
see a cop car ahead, but that might be expensive.

Your ruthless. There used to be a spot by a large radio? tower that
would set off the radar detector. This was serious business at 145 mph
in a 55 and after awhile I would disregard it, then got two tickets at
just under a 100. The same cop, always asked me why I was going so
fast and I would tell him I slowed down under 150 cause the slopes of
the levey hurt my back and I have the top of the line RD and you would
never have caught me if it wasn't for the false readings and the
banks. ) He sat aiming at the crest , no time to brake. Busted.
And then he would rant how my RD wasn't good enough for their new
systems.

I really like the ideas of making the curve evident , day and night.

In town they set the hyway concrete barriers on the side walk cause
they will go through the block walls every week. The buck stops here.
I've got one of those places right by my house. They drive like 90
into a clear stop sign and T intersection and while trying to take the
main street they take out the walls into peoples' backyards. I hear
about 5 a yr. at about 3 am. I'd move if they crashed into my yard all
the time.



Take care.

Brian Lawson,

Call the cops every time it happens and get them to make a report, even if
the offender is gone. Keep copies of these reports.

Take the copies of the reports to the commissioners/city council and ask for
a speed bump be installed. When they don't, ask them what you can do.
Document it and make it happen.

If it were my yard, I'd use Claymore mines....


"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!

The Guy wrote:

\


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.



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


I was thinking about a section of fence inside the property line
(right-of-way/easement/whatever.) Sections of telephone pole sunk deep in
the ground at each end, a single 5/8" or 3/4" wire rope back and forth
about 3 times between the poles so it looks like 3 strands of barbwire.
Don't stretch the cable too tight, so when someone hits it it will have
some "give" to it. Plant some sturdy bushes just inside it, and see if
the county will put a barrier sign in front (alternating yellow and black
diagonal bands.)

-Bob

In , on 03/02/04
at 06:16 AM, (Don) said:

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!

Park a D8 in front of the yard?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Lloyd - Cymru/Wales

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|
|"Watch for Nudists, next 1.5 miles"
|(appropriate sillouhette graphic)
|Rex in Fort Worth
|
|Better make that an umm... shapely graphic. I sure wouldn't slow down
|at the thought of catching a glimpse of your "average" nudist.

Yeah, don't want them covering their eyes


Rex in Fort Worth

On 2 Mar 2004 06:16:33 -0800, (Don) wrote:

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.

1) Move

2) Get the county to install a guardrail

3) Big trees, preferably 50 year oaks

4) Lawyers

Jeff

Park a D8 in front of the yard?


hope hes got a big front yard...

On 02 Mar 2004, Don wrote:

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.

That sounds like a plan, unless you can get somebody with a
pile driver to sink about 6 concrete pillars for ya.

Make it narrow and as deep as you can stand it, you want to get
the car to fall in, not just stop!. Maybe the local "news" of
a car or two being stuck there for a day until they could be
dug out by a dozer would get people to slow the hell down?

--
No more big'uns for me, now I'm a 'Venture Capitalist'.
I've learned to totally appreciate 'Small Firms'.

(Don) wrote in message om...
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!
Buy a few 100$ cars and park em where they will be hit and settle for
1K or so with or without the insurance company.
An old friend of mine had cars in the bottom of his driveway just for
that purpose and always had play money.

How about a moat?

-J

Trying to get reliable license plate recognition with security cameras might
be more costly than you think.


"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article , "Wayne" makowicki
wrote:

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.

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.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Erik Litchy wrote in news:id81c.104767$4o.121714
@attbi_s52:



Park a D8 in front of the yard?


hope hes got a big front yard...


If they hit it hard enough to move the D8, you should DEFINATELY have a
case to have the cops cite them for speeding.



--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

I had a problem with the curve in front of my house also. I started
calling 911 whenever one crashed off the hiway after one drunk wanted to
fight with me. after a couple of years of this the county did some work
and the accident rate is much lower now. I read one of the posts where the
people just drive off after tearing things up. Install enough barriers so
they can't get out so the cops have time to show up. This can be as simple
as a 12" high cement wall. Call 911 first then go out to se what is
happening. All ya gotta say is there has been a wreck and send the Calvary.
lg
no neat sig line

"Don" wrote in message
m...
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!