rrlund

Well-known Member
I don't know how we're gonna handle it around here if the cops don't start to do something about the way people drive in this neighborhood. A neighbor was killed Monday afternoon on the same road where the woman on the cell phone totaled our car and the old man drove straight off the curve and through my fence without turning a wheel or slowing down. The intersection where the drunk woman went end over end and wasn't arrested.

I was out in the feedlot Monday cleaning out some holes so I could cement them back in. I heard a boom off to the south. Just shortly after that the wife leaned her head and said she thought she heard somebody screaming for help. She walked down by the gate and listened. Wasn't sure if she heard it again or not. It was several minutes later and the rescue squad went south. She said "I told you so" and said she thought it might be at George's place a quarter mile south. She got in her car and headed down there.

I kept on with what I was doing but the ambulance went south,then some cop cars. Turns out it as a half mile south and we heard it this far away. Some greasy bearded redneck driving like a batoutahell topped a hill when the neighbor was swinging out in the road with his 4 wheeler while dragging his driveway. He called his wife first and told her to call 911. That was his story anyway. Who knows what he had her come and get. The guy laid there in the road all mangled up all that time anyway.

He hit the 4 wheeler so hard that it almost took the top off the car when it went over the top. The windshield and back window were both out. The guy laid about 100 feet past his driveway,what was left of the 4 wheeler was beyond him and the car was in a bean field way on down the road. He died on the way to the hospital. The driver of the car kept claiming he was only going 55 and the sun was in his eyes. Well,he was going south and the sun was way over in the west that time of the afternoon and why was he driving 55 on a gravel road if he couldn't see? I don't know for sure what happened in the end,but I'll bet you he went home and slept in his own bed that night.

I'm so sickened by these idiots and the fact that the cops just flat out refuse to do anything about it. I don't know if it's because the county is flat broke and can't afford to prosecute anybody or what. I'll bet they'd find the money of any of us in this neighborhood take the law in to our own hands. Now somebody in the neighborhood is dead and I'll bet the farm nothing will change as far as law enforcement is concerned.
 
Too much aggressive driving. Also, in quite a number of instances the police know the matter will get dismissed when it goes to court so why bother. Now if the redneck had caused the fatality of another person then your county might have prepared a court case had the redneck survived.
 
The greasy dirty redneck was the driver of the car and he did survive. It was a good clean cut upstanding neighbor who was killed.
 
Sorry, I did not read that right the first time. Sounds like the driver of the car survived so I would think charges would be made against him. Charges can be made quite a while after the incident has occurred at least here in New York.
 
My folks use to live in the country..meaning that they have developed the land across the road from their place and paved their road. I hay their field to the north about 1/4 mile way or so.. Every year it gets worse for traveling that short distance from field to their driveway. Was on the way back to their place with baler in tow and car was comeing toward me so stayed in my lane and stuck my arm out to make left turn AND had signal on tractor working to turn into driveway after car went by ..out of the corner of eye i see suv passing me right as Im getting ready to make the turn into drive.. GEES.. NO CLUE....

Couple years ago came home at my place to see a card strattleing the ditch. There is a "T" at the end of our road and the guy looked down to pull the cd out of radio and blew by the stop sign into the top of the T to which the rear bumper was on the edge of road.. front bumper was on field side with ditch under car... LOL LOL
 
What a joke. The county commissioners are the reason this county is flat broke,and there were four state police cars that eventually showed up at the scene. There's a state police sub station right here in town a mile away. They're on this road all the time going to and from. They know how these idiots drive.
 
Since it is a gravel road, take the tractor with a blade and make some speed humps (not bumps). Preferable 2 spaced just slightly further than the wheel base of most cars. Everyone will have to slow down so they don't wreck their suspension...
 
I'm not a great source of legal advice but I'd suggest that your solution is probably not one that a person would want to follow if he knows what's good for him. It might solve the traffic issue but you'd have a lot more on your plate should something go wrong.
 
Yep,like I said,if any of us take matters in to our own hands,the prosecutors office will find money that they forgot they had.
 
Landowner rights are sacred in Texas and I support them HOWEVER when safety is involved reason must rule. There is a 188 home subdivision going in behind my place. This is in the county and Texas counties have very limited ordinance making authority. This subdivision is expected to put 3,000 or more auto trips per day from 2 30 ft. streets onto a 23 ft. county road with no shoulders. The westernmost street will enter the county road at the crest of a hill where the road curves. The developer won't put turn lanes in because he'd have to give up developable land and the county can't force him to. The county road is heavily traveled during commuting times I expect many accidents.
 
Even if you could get police to patrol that road and set up a speed trap it would be short lived as they can't be all places all the time.
I wonder if you could find an old police car CHEAP at an impound yard or junk yard ? If so you could set it out by the road and even stick a cardboard cut out in it to look like it is manned. That would do more to slow them down than anything.
 
It would probably work once. Then it would be a joke to them. In about a day and a half they'd be stopping and having their picture taken while sitting on the hood smoking a joint.
 
Maybe you should look into things a little more. Here a few years back our county got in a peeing contest with the state over jurisdiction. The county didn't like the state writing tickets on anything other than state roads claiming that county, "city" and township roads were the county's responsibility. What it was is the county was afraid that they were going to loose the money a ticket would bring in. SO for a while the state cops didn't enforce anything not marked as state, US or interstate. The county was barred from doing anything on state, US highways or the interstate. Did the county put on more cops to cover the county's responsibility? NO! And the number of tickets went down, not up because they couldn't write tickets in the states area of responsibility. This went on for several years while the accident rate went up. Now this had nothing to do with the cops, it was the county commissioners! Finally they reached a deal with the state that the county would get a percentage of tickets written by state cops.

Rick
 
Increasing traffic and faster travel speeds is not something that will go away. They are something we need learn to work with.

If we were in any other business besides farming, we would be required by law to use: up-to-date warning lights; permits to move oversized equipment; escort vehicles; road hazard warning signs; flagmen; and possibly licenses for equipment that travels on public roads. For the time being, farmers are mostly exempt from having to protect the motoring public from the road hazards we create. Lets not take that for granted or abuse that privilege.
 
Greasy Redneck have been a distracted driver on a cellphone or looking down at his gizmo. Hard to stop irresponsible people from getting behind the wheel.

Seems like that stretch of road attracts idiot drivers. On roads like that around there are signs posted like 'Special Enforcement Area' and/or warning lights to get peoples attention.
 
About 25 years ago, we got the speed limit on our gravel road lowered to 25mph residential area. It made a difference and lasted about 3 years. Though never told, I figured someone beat a ticket in court because one day the signs were gone. 55 is too fast for any gravel road accept maybe the Trans-Alaska Highway prior to its paving. I would like to see a State speed limit of 35 for all unimproved roads.
 
I would not call it a vigilante act to add your own speed bumps to the road without town permission or interference.
 
All I can recommend is rally the neighbors. Document everything, research police records, find neighbors willing to testify.

If enough concerned voters show up at the commissioners office, sheriffs office, state police, representatives, governor... Enough negative news stories are written/shown, the elected officials will start getting nervous.

It takes perseverance, if the heat dies down, so will the needed changes.
 
It's just like that where I live. People go 75mph down the road. The cops set on the straight part of the road in the river bottoms where's there's no homes but do not come up the hill where all the houses are. I have found that pulling out on the road with a 4x4 tractor with a disc and roller will slow em up real fast and the more ------ they get the slower I go.
 
Here in Pennsylvania, there seems to be no speed limits at all. You can be going nearly twice the limit on the interstate and some yo-yo in a BMW will come up behind you flashing to pass.
From time to time, I will see a state cop writing a ticket, but as soon as he leaves, it is back to a racetrack.
There is, however, a lot of enforcement of DUI laws around here. Cops will go out of their way to make a DUI arrest - even if the one being arrested has not been drinking.
 
The county won't do anything. It's pretty much up to the state cops. Here's a link to the most recent newspaper article in the ongoing saga of a flat broke county. These kind of articles are just about a daily occurrence anymore. The newest board member was arrested for drunk driving right after he was elected. We might as well be the Dukes of Hazzard living with Boss Hogg these days. Nothing gets done. Sheriff Roscoe isn't the one to blame I don't think.
Sheriff vs Board
 
It's the same all over the place. You either have speed traps or they don't do much. Where i live here in PODOCK junction The cops don't do much , they are only in it to get there 20 years in . I live on one of the state routes and about a 1/2 mile from the city limits , my house set up on a hill and i can look down into passing cars while setting on the ft. porch . . What i see each day is about 1 in 6 cars going by that are not texting , with the old corner store down the street that thrives on beer sales i see beer cans and bottles thrown from cars in less then a 1/3 rd of a mile s from the store , I see cars and trucks going past the house thinking that it is Quaker City Drag way same with motor cycles . Then we have Lets make a deal going on at several houses . And nothing is done . I live like five blocks from the cop shop and the fastest they have ever made it here is 14 min. up to 17 min. timed from the time i hang up the phone , how often do you see a cop car even venture into this are if your lucky maybe once a month . Having a set down with them and several other officials has done nothing since this side of town is not important to them . If little johnny the rich kid from the N/E side gets in trouble it is swept under the rug and kept quiet . the cops , fi ya want to call them cops we have now could not fight there way out of a wet paper bag , either they are little wimpy things of they are the Mr.Donut taste testers and start wezzing if they have to walk more then fifty feet and for get running . The last interaction we had was the night i was walking my dog late one evening and one of the drunks decided to open fire with a hand gun , no he was not shooting at me as no rounds came my way. BUT that could have changed so i called on my cell and when i hung up i looked at the time and stayed close to a pole and waited , took 17 min.for them to get there . When they arrived all three cars they all got out and ran around the side of there cars a cowerd down . I get Where are the shots coming from , so i point and i get well are YOU SURE it was gun fire . Yes i am sure , well what kind of gun and i said pistol probable a 9 mill. , Were they shooting at you NO well are you sure YES , how do you know they were not shooting at you . Because i have been shot at before . Oh yea almost for got about the one late night early morning when i had someone walking around my house and called at 3:35 AM , this person was checking out cars and pickup and house doors here again 17 min wait this time the three town clowns and one township cop . I was out on the ft. porch watching this guy and giving a blow by blow to the dispatcher as to where he was and all the cops did was RIDE around using there spot lights . It just two of the Jelly belly's would have stopped and got out of the cars and JUST WALKED seventyfive feet they could have had him . BUT no they all drove down to my place and had to talk with me while this guy gets up and just walks away.
 
I sympathize with farmers 'cause I used to be one, but equipment sizes are getting out of hand. Farmers used to be in a race to see who farmed the most acres, now they seem to be in a race to see who has the biggest equipment.

Our gravel roads are graded and maintained so that it's not unreasonable or unsafe to drive 50-55 mph. BUT, there is a hill a half mile north of my house, and I can't count the times I've crested the hill to be faced head-on by a combine with a header spanning not only the entire road, but almost the entire right-of-way.

It happened again a couple of weeks ago. After I'd driven halfway into the ditch and the combine had moved over far enough so I could squeeze past, I found a fellow in a pickup who was with the combine following behind. I told him instead of being behind the combine, he should be several hundred yards ahead with his four way flashers on. I can't repeat on this forum what his response was.

Like anywhere else, a few idiots are giving an entire industry a bad name.
 
So far,and fingers crossed,no farm equipment has been involved in what these brainless idiots do. Except my fences anyway.
They just drive drunk,drugged,stupid or while busy with their phones. Then there was the old guy of course who just flat didn't even know where he was who drove straight off the curve and through the fence and the state cop let him get right back in and drive away after I sat out there on the tractor for half an hour in a cold rain to make sure he didn't.
 

It is not uncommon for it to take a year or so for charges to be filed in the case of a fatal wreck. There is much investigation to be done before someone can be charged.

On the other hand this will not be a simple case since by your account the neighbor pulled out onto the road, failing to yield to oncoming traffic. The car driver may well have been speeding, but that does not automatically get the 4-wheeler driver off the hook for pulling out in front of the car. It may mitigate fault, but all in all the prosecutor may decide the case would not stand up.

It will be interesting to see what they do with it - please post back with updates!
 
The driveway where he was hit was a good 500 feet beyond the crest of the hill,so unless he had just pulled out,the greaseball had plenty of time to get his car under control.
 
Here in Iowa, before the Conservatives made it Federal Law, the secondary speed limit was 65. Didn't matter whether pavement or gravel. Back in the 50's, it was "Reasonable and Proper". Of course, Eisenhower helped change that. See a pattern here?
 
4 Wheelers,golf carts,UTVs,they're on the road as often as cars. Unbelievable that the ones who run up and down the road on them haven't been rearended. All this guy was doing was trying to level his driveway.
 
Sigh.....I wonder what happened now? I just saw the FOX 17 news car come from the north on that road. It turned west and went by my place. That wreck was to the south,so I doubt they were covering that. Last time I saw a news car up to the north was a few years ago when the preacher missed the curve a quarter of a mile to the north at a high rate of speed,ran off the road into the lake and drowned.
 
(quoted from post at 09:38:27 10/04/17) I don't know where you live but here, it is against the law for a 4 wheeler to be on a public road.
...But what stops people from getting ATV's on the road?


Randy, only thing I can throw out there is to do a little research into that specific location, going back a few years. Try to find photos, reports....anything concerning accidents at THAT location. See if there are any commonalities that keep happening time and again - ex.: is it ALWAYS the driver's fault? If so, then why?

Take all your info to your neighbors and show them your findings. Then, as a "group", make those findings public. Try going to the people in charge of that stretch of road (county road or state?). If they fail to act, which seems to be obvious, then take the info to the local papers, as well as the paper of the nearest larger town/city. Get the word out about what's going on.

It's not a "quick fix", and it may well be that nothing will ever come of it, but all you can do is try. As another friend of mine so greatly likes to throw out there, you can't fix stupid!
 
"Reasonable and Proper".

I thought that was the limit here,but my son said no,it's 55. That must be why the guy driving the car said that was how fast he was going. No doubt wasn't his first rodeo.
 
randy, trying to fight city hall is a loosing battle. obviously they just plain dont care. you and yer neighbors may need to get a little creative and get the news media involved. in the mid '70's i worked for a rural township highway dept. most all were farm people. had a gravel road that the urban sprawl townies (or citiots) would drive down and dump all kinds of garbage. we had to go out with a dump truck, pick it all up and haul it to the dump. ongoing problem, cops would do nothing. even found peoples junk mail with names and addresses. still nothing. so one night....in the wee hours of the morning, a huge sign showed up there, couple sheets of 4x8 plywood, all painted up red white and blue with the words..........THE PROUD CITIZENS OF ANYTOWN USA ARE CELEBRATING OUR NATIONS BICENTENNIAL WITH THIS DISPLAY. mysteriously, the newpaper got a call, pictures got put in the paper, the town sent a volunteer group out to clean up the mess and the cops started patrolling it. you may need to put some kind of a sign on your property along the road......WARNING DANGEROUS CURVE X NUMBER OF DEATHS SO FAR SLOW DOWN OR DIE EARLY. maybe a couple tombstones too. send it to the newspaper or local tv. we can leave the creativity up to you. if the display is on your property, its free speech...right? and its a matter of public safty, right??? messing with the road will get you sued.
 
Well doc, the problem is that my opinion or your opinion isn't worth the paper it's written on legally. As they say, opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one. I agree with the comments though about bad drivers, but a guy can't rebuild roads to his liking whenever and wherever he wishes. That would turn into a nightmare I would think.
 
17 minutes? LOL. Sounds to me you'd be in a world of hurt if you needed the police in a real life and death situation. What's the saying?; 'minutes seem like minutes when seconds count'.
 
I don't suppose that there's any chance the saint on the ATV was looking back over his shoulder to line up his drag or admire his work and pulled out directly in front of the "greasy bearded redneck"?

I've been guilty of that when back-blading on occasion. Even once or twice mowing the grass strip on either side of the driveway with a regular riding mower (e.g. no trailer). I like to switch sides at the bottom so the discharge goes away from the gravel, and we have so little traffic on that road that I have forgotten to look after following the flair along the road before pulling a whifferdill to mow the other side.
 
My sil is a state trooper here in Mn. It is illegal to text while driving but legal to talk on cell phone while driving. I used to do my 2 mile morning walk along a heavily traveled state hyway. I could easily see 4 out of 5 cars texting. I asked him if I can see it from road shoulder, how come you can't see it from your cruiser? You should be able to get 4 out of 5 of those bast--ds. He answered- I can easily see it but I can't prove they are texting as opposed to dialing a phone number and I can't pull them over and have show me there phone history-
 
I used to think the same as you about slowing down with my tractor and combine just to pizz them off even more. I think complete apposite now. I go as fast as I can to get off road as soon as I can. I also pull over to let them by if and when I can. I gained nothing by slowing down and we all have to share the road so now I try harder to make it work. When I pull over and let them by you would be surprised how many people wave and mouth out t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u-. The way it was before they would wave with one finger.
 
A sign like the one I saw in Jefferson County Missouri might be in order. I turned down a road and there was a big hand painted sign on plywood that said "Entering blood alley,29 people killed since 1991". That was the latest number,they kept crossing numbers out with red paint and writing in new numbers. After getting in to town though,I'm pretty sure they weren't referring to the road.
 
Either way,55 was too fast for conditions wasn't it? He clearly wasn't in control. There was no sign of him making any evasive maneuver. He hit him dead center. He never said the guy pulled out right in front of him. He was just quick with "I was only going 55" and "The sun was in my eyes". Leaving him lay instead of calling 911 was a whole 'nuther thing. I still suspect he wanted his wife there first to get rid of something he didn't want to get caught with.

Not that he would have been arrested for that either.
 
"a good clean cut upstanding neighbor who was killed." Who happened to pull out in front of a car. It is a sad accident. Don't try and make it in to something more.
 
The wild driving seems to be a problem everywhere. Lots of reasons, but the lack of visibility of law enforcement is not helping matters. It is not unusual to drive several hundred miles and never see a police car. Speeding, running red lights, blatant reckless driving, texting, trucks off on the rumble strips as the driver works his computer....but no police presence to rein-in the law breakers.

Radar is mostly history, can't think of the last time I heard some one discuss a radar detector...no need....almost no more radar. Reckless driving? A historic term.

Lots of people have explained why law enforcement has waned, but my eyes tell me it is a fact.
 
Even if everything happens like you said and the guy pulled onto the road with his 4 wheeler before he crested the hill at 55 mph he's traveling 80' per second. If the guy was watching for oncoming traffic while blocking the roadway he should have been out of the road in 6 seconds.
 
We are about to go to war with the county and the drivers on our gravel road. We have thru traffic coming thru at what I would say averages 55 mph. Some are going much faster. I have been out there the last six weeks rebuilding a block dairy barn and some days they like to drive me nuts going by 100 feet away. Problem is there is no posted speed limit to enforce. Going to try to get a reasonable number, like 35 mph posted, then work on the sheriff to enforce it. Two years ago I was building a pole barn and a guy went speeding by looking backwards at me. Drove right off the road and flipped his car. Not even safe to go down and get the mail anymore. At least I can see them coming...no hill to speak of there. Sorry about your neighbor.
 
So terribly sorry your neighbor was killed. My condolences and prayers. It sounds as if you have attempted to get the local police/sheriff to increase their patrol to no avail. I suspect you are in a rural county and from what you said the commissioners have spent most of the money so more than likely the size of the police of county sheriff's dept is limited. You mentioned the state police are on the road all the time. I am sure you are a busy person, but if you are interested in trying to solve the problem I would do the following:

1. Contact your neighbors and form a coalition of support. All of you need to be involved. If possible get the survivors involved as well. One of them may be a great spokesperson to speak of the suffering that has occurred because the county is unwilling to do anything.

2. Prepare a petition citing the examples you cited and as many as you can recall. You can also go to the road dept for I am sure they keep stats on the accidents and can give you the data.

3. Have all your neighbors sign the petition. Get them to help you.

4. As a group present the petition at the next commissioner meeting. You may need to be put on their calendar so see how that is done and do it.

5. Arrange a meeting with the local sheriff or police chief (whoever has jurisdiction) and as a group present the petition to him.

6. Do the same with the local state police commander.

7. Contact your local news media and give a copy of the petition and ask for their help.

8. Contact the State Attorney General and see what help he can give.

9. Have your group get together and make some signs to post at the appropriate locations to get people's attention.

10. Make sure you document what they tell you and hold them accountable.

11. Don't give up.

12. Don't forget the ballot box. Politicians need to be held accountable

I realize that what I am suggesting will consume a great deal of time and energy, but ask yourself if it is worth it. Let the passion you have expressed in your posts drive you and your neighbors and be part of the solution. Doing nothing or thinking the other guy will do it never gets us any where. We are either part of the problem by doing nothing or part of the solution. I hope you are able to find some relief.
 
I'm sorry, call me naieve (however the heck you spell that word) but when I hear of an accident like this happening it amazes me that people go into cover your a** mode! I'm not talking about you rr, the greasy redneck guy called someone after he hit your neighbor to come and get something he shouldn't have had in the car? How do people do that? I would've been out of that truck so fast and to the side of the person I just smoked, I can't imagine being able to think of anything else if something like that happened where I was driving. Nobody owns up to their mistakes anymore, in this case how the heck could you live with yourself? I sure as heck would probably have a very rotten life after that.

When I was a kid my Dad had a friend who hit a 9 year old kid on a bike, killed him, it was a pure accident, there was no fault of the driver so he wasn't charged. 2 years after it happened he killed himself, left behind a wife and family but couldn't deal with the grief and guilt, that's probably how I would be.
 
Yup, I've got about a mile view both ways from my driveway and I still manage to get surprised by a car when snowplowing. Very easy to get distracted by the task at hand.
 
Sorry about your neighbor, but calling the guy driving down the road with the right of way a greaseball because a 4 wheeler pulled out in front of him is just plain wrong. That guy will have to live with that for the rest of his life and from what you said he was not at fault no matter the speed he was going, you said the 4 wheeler driver could see the road, no blind spot.

Joe
 
(quoted from post at 16:58:33 10/04/17) With a twenty three million dollar budget, don't sound like they are too broke.

$23 million for an entire county is peanuts. My little teeny town has a budget of almost a million bucks, the vast majority going to our 46 miles of highways. And lets remember that what you budget isn't a refection of what you take in as far as revenue goes. Our county often has to wait 8-10 months or more for reimbursement from the state.
 
(quoted from post at 10:58:24 10/04/17) I don't know how we're gonna handle it around here if the cops don't start to do something about the way people drive in this neighborhood. A neighbor was killed Monday afternoon on the same road where the woman on the cell phone totaled our car and the old man drove straight off the curve and through my fence without turning a wheel or slowing down. The intersection where the drunk woman went end over end and wasn't arrested.

I was out in the feedlot Monday cleaning out some holes so I could cement them back in. I heard a boom off to the south. Just shortly after that the wife leaned her head and said she thought she heard somebody screaming for help. She walked down by the gate and listened. Wasn't sure if she heard it again or not. It was several minutes later and the rescue squad went south. She said "I told you so" and said she thought it might be at George's place a quarter mile south. She got in her car and headed down there.

I kept on with what I was doing but the ambulance went south,then some cop cars. Turns out it as a half mile south and we heard it this far away. Some greasy bearded redneck driving like a batoutahell topped a hill when the neighbor was swinging out in the road with his 4 wheeler while dragging his driveway. He called his wife first and told her to call 911. That was his story anyway. Who knows what he had her come and get. The guy laid there in the road all mangled up all that time anyway.

He hit the 4 wheeler so hard that it almost took the top off the car when it went over the top. The windshield and back window were both out. The guy laid about 100 feet past his driveway,what was left of the 4 wheeler was beyond him and the car was in a bean field way on down the road. He died on the way to the hospital. The driver of the car kept claiming he was only going 55 and the sun was in his eyes. Well,he was going south and the sun was way over in the west that time of the afternoon and why was he driving 55 on a gravel road if he couldn't see? I don't know for sure what happened in the end,but I'll bet you he went home and slept in his own bed that night.

I'm so sickened by these idiots and the fact that the cops just flat out refuse to do anything about it. I don't know if it's because the county is flat broke and can't afford to prosecute anybody or what. I'll bet they'd find the money of any of us in this neighborhood take the law in to our own hands. Now somebody in the neighborhood is dead and I'll bet the farm nothing will change as far as law enforcement is concerned.

I strongly suggest you start contacting your county representatives, the sheriff, the local State Police commander, etc. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

As far as the cops go, if it's anything like here, the emphasis is on the main highways. Detailing a cop to the back roads just doesn't get done.
 
I try my hardest to let people around me, it's the ones that race down the road i like to slow down. You can tell if a person is going to make it easy for you to get around them just my the car. If it's a Beemer no way in hell are they pulling over, but an old beater truck will pull off for ya every time.
 
Similarly to the atv rider turning around on the road, when I see someone on a mower heading toward the road it makes me wonder-- some turn around on the road. Bad idea! And even worse if there's a hill involved.
 
Sometimes dedication pays off, even if in unexpected ways. Our little road is so narrow and has such limited visibility that the town declared it one-way, but people still used it as a shortcut in that one direction and screamed through here at about 45-50 even though the speed limit was 30. One neighbor had been arguing unsuccessfully with the town for years that the speed limit should be reduced to 20 or 25, and a couple of years ago when the vinyl 3 fell off the old speed limit sign he carefully painted a 2 in its place. Well, the road crew came through last year with new signs to replace the faded or shot-up ones and miracle of miracles they saw that spray-painted sign and put a shiny new official 20 MPH sign in its place. And that seems to have reduced the outrageous behavior quite a bit.
 
My thoughts exactly Hydro ...... for sure we all feel for the fellow and his family, a tragedy that will unfortunately live forever. But I wonder like you do, why does a guy with a beard gets in the cross hairs and all of a sudden he's a grease ball redneck. I'm not a religious type but didn't Jesus have a beard?
 
It's academic now. Word around town this afternoon is,he was arrested for vehicular manslaughter. Don't know if it's true or not,we'll see. As for whether or not he pulled "right out in front of" the car,the coroners report should show from the injuries which way he was going. The driveway was on the west side of the road. If the injuries are on his left,he was pulling out. If they were on his right,he had made the circle and was headed back in and the driver should have been able to stop or miss him if he had been paying attention and or driving a reasonable safe speed.

It'll be up to a jury,not an internet forum. If you knew some of this white trash around here you'd call them rednecks too,just to be kind.
 
There have been milage votes for the Sheriff's department. I've voted for them,but there are so many people around here who have reason to not want any more police presence,it's tough to get enough people to vote for it. You should have heard the uproar when the state police put a substation in the village hall.
 
Like I said,my wife heard him screaming half a mile away. The filthy greasy redneck was standing right there listening to him scream. I hope that sound haunts him for the rest of his miserable life. My wife said when she got there he was just standing there acting stupid.
 
Our county is so financially strapped that there is practically no road patrol at all. Only by the state police. Most of the municipalities and townships that want extra police coverage have closed their departments and contract the sheriff to provide extra patrols. I live near the north county line. A conservation officer does some hunting in the area. He's about the only officer we see out here. (CO's here are full state police officers, just paid by a different department. Primary responsibility is game laws, but has full enforcement powers.) Rrlund is right, These tragedies can't continue.
 
If you had paragraphs, I"d read your msg. Been months since I waded through them. I think that you have good content...I just don"t bother anymore...
 
I don't think people would complain about it too much if it went where it was needed and supposed to go, instead it is being sifoned off for something completely unrelated and un nessary and unwanted.
 
They are afraid if it is done they will get picked for breaking the law and want to keep on doing unsafe things.
 
There is street legal in them as well as golf carts. Then there are some that are not.
 
No two ways about it. And it's not just traffic laws they're worried about getting caught breaking either.
 
Unless you get the state to change the laws to more reasonable speeds fron the race track speeds now allowed nothing will be done. On any graver road with just a bit of gravel that can roll under a tire or any paved road with a bit of berm gravel on it 55 is way too fast at any time.30 is more like it. We don't have gravel roads around me but I get on then all the time across state line. Even the interstates the speed of 70 is way too high, nobody can control a vehical at those speeds. 95% of the wrecks, cannot call them accidents, are the result of speeding yet nothing is done about it ever.
 
That's my point when saying he was "only going 55". There's no way you're in control of a vehicle on a gravel road at that speed. That's how the wife slid in to the woman who was on her cell phone. She was only going 40 to begin with. The woman who was right behind her can testify to that. She said she'd been cursing her all the way from town for driving so slow. The wife said she thought the woman was coming to a stop right in the middle of the road,so she tried to turn the corner to the right to miss her. She got on the gravel stones on the pavement at the intersections and slid right in to her. She said if the woman had actually stopped she might have missed her,but all the woman did was slow down but kept going.
 
You want speed and drunk driver enforcement come to Virginia most counties in my area have at least one unmarked car running radar all the time they probably pay for their own salary and a couple
more.Never run over the speed limit on US 29 in Greene and Madison Counties if you don't want a ticket.
 
I was down around Allentown about 3 weeks ago. I don't see how anyone could speed in Pennsylvania. It seemed like 200 miles of speed bumps then when I crossed the border back into NY, it seems NY has the same contractor "repairing" the roads.
 
(quoted from post at 17:04:50 10/04/17) That's my point when saying he was "only going 55". [color=blue:ae073f06fd]There's no way you're in control of a vehicle on a gravel road at that speed.[/color:ae073f06fd] That's how the wife slid in to the woman who was on her cell phone. She was only going 40 to begin with. The woman who was right behind her can testify to that. She said she'd been cursing her all the way from town for driving so slow. The wife said she thought the woman was coming to a stop right in the middle of the road,so she tried to turn the corner to the right to miss her. She got on the gravel stones on the pavement at the intersections and slid right in to her. She said if the woman had actually stopped she might have missed her,but all the woman did was slow down but kept going.
Actually, that depends entirely on the road and other conditions.

Around here, our land is super-flat. We have 20+ miles of gravel roads before our place. However, the gravel roads are often smoother to drive on than the paved roads, which are also in pretty darn good condition. Then it'll rain, gets nasty in spots, and then it's rougher in spots for a while.

In our instance, the roads are wide enough for (4) semi's to travel side-by-side without any of them being in the grass. There are also very few side roads, and there's ample room to see at each of those intersections. So it's not uncommon to see vehicles going above 55 on the road.

What gets me is, near our place the road is very narrow - BARELY enough room for a car and semi to pass in opposite directions!! Two semi's means they both are gonna be kissing grass with their passenger-side tires! Yet some folks still try to drive overly fast on that stretch as well.

Hills? Ain't no such thing in these parts. Someone posted a pic near their place a while back that was up-down-up-down, one hill after another, and you could never know what's on the other side until you crested that hill. Even then, you could only see about 1/2 mile ahead to the next hill, and there were driveways and side streets all over the place. Anyone doing 55 on that road ought to be shot! But, it happens. I very much like the suggestions that [b:ae073f06fd]GlenIdaho [/b:ae073f06fd]had!! Lots of good, common-sense things there that can be done, and might actually make a difference. Will likely take more than just one or two of them, so will be something that you'll have to sink a little time and effort into. All depends on how dearly this topic is to you - how much it means to you to make the road a safer place - for [b:ae073f06fd][i:ae073f06fd]everyone[/i:ae073f06fd][/b:ae073f06fd].
 
Well I read your post and some of the comments. My two cents say you are just SOL, not a funny thing just how it is!
 
Randy I am sorry your neighbor got killed this week. I know people drive fast on gravel roads. I also do not think there should be ATVs or UTVs of any sort on the road either. Cars/trucks are designed to protect the passengers in accidents. ATVs and UTVs are not designed that way. Then add in the size difference and you have things like this happen.

A few years ago four teenagers on a Gator where all killed when they were hit by a truck running a stop sign. Yes the driver of the pickup caused the accident BUT if those teenagers had been in any kind of passenger vehicle they more than likely would have not have been killed. Them driving that Gator like it was a car/truck put them there for the wreck.

So in your neighbor's case his driving his ATV out into the road put himself in harms way. Then you add in a hill/gravel plus speed/driver possible inattention an you have the makings of a horrible accident.

The driver may or may not be at fault. We do not know and you do not either. Since there was a fatality the police will investigate it vigorously. They can usually recreate the accident pretty well. They can then tell what really happened.

Also watch how your talking about people. I am a bearded redneck to most people. I guess I need to have a military hair cut and smell like perfume to get respect?????
 
What about people walking,riding bicycles and other legal activities on a road? I'd bet that if the situation were the same and they hit your over width piece of farm equipment
you be blaming the driver of the car 100%.
 
(quoted from post at 02:00:35 10/05/17) You want speed and drunk driver enforcement come to Virginia most counties in my area have at least one unmarked car running radar all the time...

That's illegal in Ohio, the officer must be in a marked vehicle within a certain number of feet of the edge of the road in order to write a ticket. But you can be tracked by an aircraft and ticketed by an officer on the ground, Ohio Highway Patrol does this in some areas. We call them "a bear in the air" for the Smokey the Bear hats the OHP wears.
 
That's it. It's a matter of dignity and respect. There is no dignity in this country anymore and I have no respect for people who have none. Montcalm County is known as Montucky. I personally apologize for that. That's a huge wet slap in the face of the good people of Kentucky in my never to be humble opinion. I've traveled the country a fair amount and there are no more low life people than some of the people around here.
 
(quoted from post at 06:51:07 10/05/17) That's it. It's a matter of dignity and respect. There is no dignity in this country anymore and I have no respect for people who have none. Montcalm County is known as Montucky. I personally apologize for that. That's a huge wet slap in the face of the good people of Kentucky in my never to be humble opinion. I've traveled the country a fair amount and there are no more low life people than some of the people around here.

Randy most often that goes back to the folks running things. They won't stop pet projects no matter how much they are not needed, instead they cut services, police, fire and rescue is their favorites. Then when grandma dies because the first responders didn't get there in time they blame you cause you were against tax increases........but the pet project went through!

Few years ago the crime rate in Minneapolis was spiking, especially violent crime. The cops were claiming that they were short handed. Turns out that they were about 800 officers short. City had imposed a hiring ban so the could pay for a lite rail system that's been a failure. They need an average of POINT one percent of the twin cities area population to PAY for and ride daily to reach the goal of only a 15% subsidy. They are not even getting that many. As soon as the system was in and the hiring freeze lifted the crime rate started dropping. Guess the city fathers who claimed the lite rail would allow poor people to get to jobs didn't care about dead poor people laying in the street.

Rick

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 06:58:24 10/04/17) I don't know how we're gonna handle it around here if the cops don't start to do something about the way people drive in this neighborhood. A neighbor was killed Monday afternoon on the same road where the woman on the cell phone totaled our car and the old man drove straight off the curve and through my fence without turning a wheel or slowing down. The intersection where the drunk woman went end over end and wasn't arrested.

I was out in the feedlot Monday cleaning out some holes so I could cement them back in. I heard a boom off to the south. Just shortly after that the wife leaned her head and said she thought she heard somebody screaming for help. She walked down by the gate and listened. Wasn't sure if she heard it again or not. It was several minutes later and the rescue squad went south. She said "I told you so" and said she thought it might be at George's place a quarter mile south. She got in her car and headed down there.

I kept on with what I was doing but the ambulance went south,then some cop cars. Turns out it as a half mile south and we heard it this far away. Some greasy bearded redneck driving like a batoutahell topped a hill when the neighbor was swinging out in the road with his 4 wheeler while dragging his driveway. He called his wife first and told her to call 911. That was his story anyway. Who knows what he had her come and get. The guy laid there in the road all mangled up all that time anyway.

He hit the 4 wheeler so hard that it almost took the top off the car when it went over the top. The windshield and back window were both out. The guy laid about 100 feet past his driveway,what was left of the 4 wheeler was beyond him and the car was in a bean field way on down the road. He died on the way to the hospital. The driver of the car kept claiming he was only going 55 and the sun was in his eyes. Well,he was going south and the sun was way over in the west that time of the afternoon and why was he driving 55 on a gravel road if he couldn't see? I don't know for sure what happened in the end,but I'll bet you he went home and slept in his own bed that night.

I'm so sickened by these idiots and the fact that the cops just flat out refuse to do anything about it. I don't know if it's because the county is flat broke and can't afford to prosecute anybody or what. I'll bet they'd find the money of any of us in this neighborhood take the law in to our own hands. Now somebody in the neighborhood is dead and I'll bet the farm nothing will change as far as law enforcement is concerned.

We tried to get the speed reduced on our road. I was told it had to be a studied by the state police, and they set the speed? I was only a signer of the petition, so I didn't get all the details, just that it failed. I think in Michigan, the tax changes over the last few years have changed the revenue sharing money from the state. The locals get less money. I know a friend who is a retired county worker, he lost his medical after he retired. I know many people never get that, but it sucks to have it, then lose it.
 
Traditional farmer. We take all of our headers off to move field to field. We run a truck with strobe lights and over width signs on it in front of any thing more than ten feet wide. It is just safer for all involved. The traffic around here is nothing compared to the more urban areas but it is heavier and faster than it used to be. So extra precautions need to be taken.
 

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