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

You don't actually have to stop the speeding vehicle on the spot. Just absorb enough enbergy so the ground will finish the job. How far back is the house from the road? Some posts that partially break and partially are pulled out of the ground on impact might be the best to absorb energy. Yes, you really don't want the thing to be a death trap, but you ought to be able to protect your family. If fences are not permitted in your area, you can just plant some trees. Even the little 6' trees you buy at the local nursery will offer quite a lot of resistance once they get their roots into the ground, and after a couple of years will be quite resistant to anything larger than a motorcycle getting past them.

As for liability, there's a guy a couple blocks from me who has this lean-to think built out of stacked 2x4's around his mailbox. If somebody ever hit it, it really looks like it could roll over practically anything smaller than a semi. He hasn't gotten cited that I know of, it has been there 15+ years (with, I think, one complete rebuild due to weathering.)

Jon

stick a video camera or web cam in the window and record the action daily. rewind if nothing happens and start again the next day :-)

Steel punji sticks for them to impale the bottom of the car on :-)

Dig a 6ft trench?

Actually, the technical and legal answers are exactly the same, use standard guard rail with standard mounting poles and all standard hardware. It will protect you and your family without unduly endangering the people who accidently plow into it. You could possibly hide it behind a hedge for esthetics. If you can't get the local government to do the job, install it on your own property at your own expense, and then bill the driver's insurance company every time it gets hit and needs repair, (just like the government does).

Vaughn

>

In my area, it is pretty common to place large stones (rocks) which would fit into a 1foot cube about every 3-4 feet as landscaping. Doesn't keep peope from hitting them, but they seem to be a pretty good deterrent. If run over, serious damage is done to underside of vehicle.

I guess the trick is avoid something "lethal".

Isn't it time the legal system itself got taken to court to get some common sense into it? Why should anyone be sued for having taken steps to protect their property and family from lawbreaking idiots? Can you see where all this will eventually lead? Anarchy, that's where.

Dan

While the insured beater car idea has merit, and is possibly a profitable venture, I think it would be more fun to cause them a bit more damage than they've caused you. Nothing extremely dangerous mind you, just bad enough to be fun.

Consider a rock garden. Do it up nicely with a base of polished river rock or something, maybe some 6" stones around the border. Then, strategically placed within the border in line with their most likely trajectory, some 12-15" stones or concrete ornaments arranged in an obstacle course fashion. Imagine the satisfaction you'll get each time you come home to find the rock garden all knocked askew!! All you'll really have to do is re-rake the river rock smooth and possibly reposition some of the larger rocks. You might even get enough oil dumped into the mix to keep the weeds at bay.

AND...........

Along the same lines as the insured road block, get someone to write you an obscene bill for the building of the garden, and then collect an equally obscene amount for re-construction from the insurance company of the vehicle that occasionally becomes lodged in your rock garden.

Fun-Fun...........

Tom

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote in news:1101753327.359184.297780 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

A 10-12' wide strip of sand about 18"-24" deep in the landing zone ought to be legal and non-lethal, it also will keep them there until they get a tow truck. Erect a sign in a place visible to cars approaching the curve, large enough for them to see, stating: FEES FOR RUNNING OFF ROAD: TOW: $150 DAMAGE FEE: $500 min PARKING FEE: $100/hr

You have seen posts about using large rocks. That is probably what I would do, but use a little bit larger rock like maybe 24". That would give room for the car to get lifted (hopefully they aren't going fast enough to actually get airborn), or the rock to be pushed further down into the soil, and still do quite a bit of damage to the car. Perhaps enough where it wouldn't be driving off again.

As a backup plan, and to make sure the house was safe, I think I would sink some 6-8" concrete filled steel pipes up close to the house. If they are still coming after the car has gone over the large rocks, the pipes should stop them.

Wayne

If you do it right the car stops slow and becomes MUCH longer.

Don't even need that, a rock garden will disable the car nicely when it falls in. I still like the idea of putting a registered cheap car for them to run into, if they try to get away it is hit & run. Your kid could have been sleeping inside, especially when you see how much $$$$ they offer for you to drop felony charges.

This sounds like a good idea....

If I understand the situation right, your yard is about 6 inches lower than the roadway and people are taking the turn too fast and sliding into the yard... then driving away.

I assume that you have three goals here:

1) Prevent cars from sliding off the road.

2) Stop errant cars from ending up in the living room.

3) Keep said errant cars from leaving the scene of the crime (personal property damage / single vehicle accident)

1) This should be the realm of the local trafic engineer. Reflectors, signs, rumble strips, speed humps... all should be well known and effective. Of course, actually getting these in place could take an act of god. Send polite letters documenting the situation and document the replies. Send often. You may get somewhere and at the least, it may cover you later.

2) I don't know if the cars just forget to turn entirely, or if they begin the turn and physics takes over landing them in your yard. I will assume the later. You are looking for a way to dissipate the energy of the car before it gets too far. The barrier should not be a hazard to pedestrians or other passers by and ideally, it should not cause injury to the occupants of the errant vehicle.

3) Is a strange area... as it seems to be contrary to 2), but it may not be.

Ok, idea time...

Water filled plastic barrels in front of a stout wooden fence. Car hits barrels, barrels rupture, water everywhere, car dumps a lot of energy (by folding up the body work), probably takes out the fence, but doesn't likely go very far after that. Works on the highways at off ramps. Of course, if you live in a cold environment you may have to use antifreeze or the barrels become an impeneterable barrier six months of the year. Perhaps add a dye to the water to mark the offending vehicle.

Small "Water feature" near road. Six inches of water will slow a car down quite a bit. Ever drive through a deep puddle? Same idea. Of course, once again, in the winter it is a skating rink and into the house they go...

Bowling balls. Concrete bowling balls teathered to each other (about 3 or 4 neighbors). Keep the teathers burried under an inch of dirt or so so no one will trip on them and place them about every 3 feet. Car comes off road, hits balls (absorbing energy by denting car and trying to drag several of its buddies along with it) probably high centering itself and unless it is a large truck, they aren't driving back out. Nothing to impale the car or driver, nothing to hurt pedestrians, replacable, repairable, and should stop a car. If you don't like the look of the balls, plant bushes around them.

I don't know... just ideas...

-- Joe

-- Joseph M. Krzeszewski Mechanical Engineering and stuff snipped-for-privacy@wpi.edu Jack of All Trades, Master of None... Yet

This isn't intended to be serious...

But, I just thought of a wide elastic rubber "guard rail" connected only at its ends to two hefty pilings.

Cars would decellerate when they ran into and stretched out the rubber, and then be launched back off the property, as though from a giant sling shot.

Could make for some pretty funny videos.

Jeff

Fun idea, as is the one with the anti-tank mines. Unfortunately, there are so many killjoys out there, and far too many of them either work for the government, or have fiends in low places (aka lawyers).

I have heard that a properly anchored chain link fence has good "crash barrier" properties. Considering what happened when the acetylene tank crashed into one, it might work for a car. [Tank fell over, knocked off the valve, rocketed across the shop, through the wall, twenty five feet to the chain link fence, was snagged by the chain link fence and pulled about a hundred and fifty feet of it loose from the fence posts.]

The idea of a solid appearing fence might work as well, as it will cause people to realize "The road turns ahead"). Put some reflectors on it

- about car headlight apart ...

tschus pyotr

Hmmm, could look around for Navy surplus aircraft arresting gear. Couple of those would serve to "trap" a car quite nicely.

Or could hang a sign out front:

"Shyster, Flywheel and Shyster, Attorneys at law. No case too small No judgement too large!"

See if you can get a concrete barrier - those they use on highways - one chunk or two as a deflection line.

Requesting those by e-mail is an urgent need and must be responded to. Something might be done.

e-mail the county rep or city rep as the case is - Around here, they have to reply by law if it is at all possible. Sometimes it is by proxy, but the message is logged in.

Martin

I like that one. Maybe a long log chain locked to a post ready to attach property.

Martin

On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:49:41 -0800, Winston vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Yeah. We have rather been here before!