OT Spike strips to protect political sign.......

moonlight machine · Sep 23, 2016

I have never had a candidate sign in my yard before, so I put one out in the yard. I live on a county road, 55 mph speed limit. Sometime in the past someone put a tile in the ditch and filled it in so the yard is level with the road. So my sign is out there for a day and some asshole drives off the road and mows down the sign. It's about 20'from the edge of the road so after the 3rd time it seems like its not an accident. This pisses me off no end,I was thinking of making some stop strips, 2x4s with a mess of deck screws sticking out an inch or so. So if I did this am I liable for the damage to the tires on the assholes car?

DocsMachine · Sep 23, 2016

First, keep in mind I'm not a lawyer. I don't even watch TV shows with lawyers in them.

But that in mind, yes, you would almost certainly be liable. Unless you could demonstrate a valid reason for having 2x4s with exposed drywall screws in them laying about in your yard, you would be charged with setting a trap or creating a hazardous condition.

How about hiding a large number of old cans of paint behind or inside the sign?

Or upgrading to a heavy steel signpost?

Doc.

rons · Sep 23, 2016

Add a sign saying "Security Cameras in Use".

moonlight machine · Sep 23, 2016

rons said:
Add a sign saying "Security Cameras in Use".

As they are driving through my yard they probably won't have time to read my sign.

Ziggy2 · Sep 23, 2016

You can add a landscape "feature", assuming it is off the road right of way and has the required set back. Something like a brick planter, 24in. high filled with dirt. You could then have the sign in said planter with the flowers and our shrubs.

moonlight machine · Sep 23, 2016

Ziggy2 said:
You can add a landscape "feature", assuming it is off the road right of way and has the required set back. Something like a brick planter, 24in. high filled with dirt. You could then have the sign in said planter with the flowers and our shrubs.

I have a 6' of 4" 3/8 wall box tube, I could get my neighbors fence post driver and wack it in the ground leaving 2' exposed to fasten the sign to. Seems like that would do as much or more damage as spike strips.

TGTool · Sep 23, 2016

DocsMachine said:
First, keep in mind I'm not a lawyer. I don't even watch TV shows with lawyers in them.

But that in mind, yes, you would almost certainly be liable. Unless you could demonstrate a valid reason for having 2x4s with exposed drywall screws in them laying about in your yard, you would be charged with setting a trap or creating a hazardous condition.

How about hiding a large number of old cans of paint behind or inside the sign?

Or upgrading to a heavy steel signpost?

Doc.

I dunno. I'm not a lawyer either, but it it's on his own property he can leave whatever trash he wants lying in the yard, however unsightly or ill advised someone else might think it to be. I can't see how a campaign sign in the yard could be considered an attractive nuisance that might shift liability. People damage tires on the road all the time from one thing or another that's dropped. Too bad, but it's not a fault, just bad luck.

Ziggy2 · Sep 23, 2016

moonlight machine said:
I have a 6' of 4" 3/8 wall box tube, I could get my neighbors fence post driver and wack it in the ground leaving 2' exposed to fasten the sign to. Seems like that would do as much or more damage as spike strips.

The thing is, you need to make the "feature" more than a sign holder.

If you have a flower bed that happens to have a sign that is one thing. If they hit the flower planter, again assuming the location is proper, it is mainly their problem unless it can be proven that it is a nuisance hazard.

A sign held up with steel tubing is getting into nuisance hazard and or a trap.

Rudd · Sep 23, 2016

Couple of used RR ties ought to do it. Saying this as someone who once went off the road on a curve. Homeowner had evidently had this happen before and protected their property.

Pete Deal · Sep 23, 2016

I'd certainly put something there. I had someone taking my political sign one year and it pissed me off quite a bit. Mine is on a bank so they can't run over it but they got out and took it. These were the type signs that are like a plastic bag over a wire frame. The next one I put insulating tubing (electric fence) over the wire frame and routed some fine wire up over the top of the bag that was hard to see. I hooked the whole thing to a battery powered fence charger in the woods. I used thhn to feed the thing and had it tied to the sign pretty good. They came back and grabbed it and pulled it out of the ground but did not get past that. They never touched it again.

WILLEO6709 · Sep 23, 2016

I'd set it back up on concrete filled steel bollards...... let them mow that down...... the alibi is you are a bird lover and still working on the feeders.

adama · Sep 23, 2016

Load of draw wall screws, in a 2x4 pretty oblivious, you need something less visible.

Remember, you want em to have all 4 tyres flat but be far enough up the road it aint your problem. Using the box, there going to wrap the car around it and be stuck there and its going to get confrontational, all the more so when the law turns up and asks why the box section was painted with a wood grain effect :-)

If its really 20 feet back too, IMHO there tyres are fair game :-) No judge on the planets going to side with em because only a badly intoxicated driver would be that far off the road normally!

Mike1974 · Sep 23, 2016

I know someone who had a problem with their mailbox. Guy got some 4" square tubing (yes, heavy!) and filled it in with cement. Pretty sure no more mailbox problems after that.

SAG 180 · Sep 23, 2016

A friend had this problem with street signs near his house being run over by a nearby guy who owned a four wheel drive with a bull bar on the front. The friend waited until the signs were replaced and dropped 6 feet of 2 inch steel bar down the hollow pipe sign post. The next day the offenders 4WD was hung up on the bent sign post with his front wheels in the air and was arrested by the local police for dangerous driving.

Limy Sami · Sep 23, 2016

Like my neighbours wheeliebin (trash can), they have to be left at the kerbside on collection day so are usually put out the night before.

Being on a slight bend, his was always being skittled over by a passing car early in the morning, resulting in the usual mess and clear up.

Far from happy he says, ''Little f'kr, what we going to do Sami?''

Several 9'' concrete blocks and some footish long drops of 2'' plus bar solved that problem ........................I know Peugeots are ''soft'', but I didn't think they were quite that soft

alonzo83 · Sep 23, 2016

Get on plasma spider and pick out your candidates sign, "they are free too contributing members" ps I am a member and would help get your file.

Have it burnt out of 1/4" sheet. weld it up, paint it and plant that fucker deep.

If anyone asks just say I made it out of what I had laying around and I set it a safe distance off the road. Mr john doe was going out of his way to be an asshole apparently it did not work out well with the trespassing, vandalism and what not. . .

Richard King · Sep 23, 2016

I'm wondering who's name was on the sign? lol...But I think I would get some garbage cans and fill with sand or concrete and put them in front of a higher sign. I would also buy a hunting camera and get there picture. Also call the police and tell them someone is doing that as I believe it is a violation of the law if someone does that. The screws in a board I believe would be a danger to small kids and dogs and you could get into trouble doing that.

projectnut · Sep 23, 2016

One of our neighbors had a similar problem. The kids kept cutting across his yard to destroy political signs and holiday decorations. Originally he planted a small tree thinking it would discourage them.

The tree was mowed down a couple times so he replaced it with one about 4' high. In addition he put a steel fence post very close to it with a rope to the tree to keep it vertical in the wind. Low and behold the tree was run over again, but this time the kids truck was damaged to the point it couldn't be driven.

He was obviously caught and fined for his efforts. He tried to sue the homeowner for the damage done to his truck. The judge ruled that since there were no weather or traffic conditions forcing him to leave the pavement, and since he had gone through private property several feet off the right of way it was an intentional act. The judge also ruled the method the homeowner used to keep the tree vertical was an excepted practice in areas out of the right of way. Needless to say there were no further incidences of decorations or signs being destroyed.

In your case if the sign has the proper offset from the right of way you might want to support it with more substantial posts so it won't be blown over by the wind.

Hobby Shop · Sep 23, 2016

Running over anything in my yard would set me off. I think you have to get a little more creative. I would probably dig a large hole with the backhoe, cover it with plywood and then blow some grass clippings on over it.

When I was younger, two guys I knew liked to smash the mailbox of an ex-girlfriend almost every weekend. This guy got REALLY creative. He had a spring loaded arm about 8' long. When they hit the box, this thing spun around so fast it hit the trunk and smashed out the tail light. These guys got so mad, they went back with a truck and pulled it out of the ground.

Round 2:
This is how they did it: They both hung out the window with bats, one in the front seat and one in the rear to make sure the box came completly off. The owner put a regular box back on, so they thought......he put a steel plate around it painted just like the box. When the guy in the front swung that aluminum bat, he hit the steel plate. The bat bounced off and knocked out ALL the other guys front teeth (uppers & lowers). I seen them right after it happened, I almost pissed myself from laughing so hard. I knew the girl, she said her dad was disappointed they never came back after that. She said he never got mad and was just getting started. This guy had to make up a BS story to tell his parents why all his front teeth were missing. I knew his dad really good and I guarantee you, his dad would've knocked out the rest of his teeth had he known he was out busting up someone's mailbox.

SteveF · Sep 23, 2016

moonlight - Contact the campaign headquarters where you got the sign. I'm sure they can tell you what is legal to protect the sign.

Steve

OT Spike strips to protect political sign.......

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