Farmer killed on road

[PineRidge]

People in general drive with their heads in the ozone. What can you expect with a cell phone in one ear and a cheeseburger in the other hand? 3 times in the past 5 years while on my tractor I have been turning into my drive from the main road with both turn signals and arm outstreched for a left turn only to have a car pass me in mid-turn. I must have a good guardian angel cause it was real close more than once. I now pull completely off to the side of the road and come to a full stop. Check both ways and when the coast is clear I make the cut. Better be safe than sorry is my new motto. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[chim]

<font color="blue"> "I've never heard of the power company getting sued because of all those immobile objects they put in the ground every couple hundred feet." </font>

There's a pretty good example of this near my place.............chim

 

[hockeyhead]

We had that problem a few years back with wiped out mailboxes. when I called the police they told me I had to have a break-away post. There are only 7 homes on our road about 3 miles long un-paved. It was kids running them down and I'm the first house on the road. After replacing it twice the third time I got a 5 gal pail and a 3" square tubing post cemented the tubing into the bucket, buried the bucket only and mounted a cheapo mailbox on top. Sure enough within a month there was an older ford pickup in my ditch with my mailbox wedged under the right front end. That bucket popped out of the ground and got hung up in the front supension and stopped that truck. Of course after contacting the law and finding the owner he swore it was an accident and how sorry he was, so nothing else happened, I just got my mailbox back I had to straighten out the top flange where the box mounts, put a new mailbox on top, buried it again , a little white paint, and nobody on my street has had a problem since. It stands to this day. a break-away mailbox

 

[5030]

I'd keep the owners name an address around for future reference. I know how "good and efficient" the Monroe County Sherriffs office is. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Mrwurm]

PineRidge, I thought I was the only one that experienced that. I turn left off a state highway to my road everyday. Every now and then someone will pass me on the left as I am starting my left turn. They are usually going about 60 mph. One driver actually locked up his brakes when he realized what he was doing and spun around a few times. I was really dissappointed when he did not end up in the ditch.
Also, the shoulder of the road is used for high-speed passing by most everyone. I think I am the only one in the county that does'nt pass on the shoulder when someone is waiting to turn left. This gets really interesting when two cars from opposite directions are both waiting to turn left but cannot because of the fools using the shoulder to pass.

 

[Mrwurm]

Hockeyhead, I use a similiar design. I have my post mounted to a whiskey barrel that is filled with rocks. It's been knocked over twice. I just stand it back up and put the rocks back in.

 

[Junkman]

I can't drink that much whiskey!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[dieselsmoke1]

There's a retired fella in our community that has another solution. He drove a 2" pipe with indexing bolts near the bottom in the ground and mounted his mailbox on a hoe handle. He strolls out about mid morning and drops the hoe handle in the pipe, then retrieves it and the mail in the afternoon.

 

[Trev]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
A farmer trying to stop traffic so he could move a group of horses from Glade Valley Farms across Md. 26 was killed Tuesday when he was hit by a driver who told police she did not see him. )</font>

I can certainly agree that there is no excuse for the woman not seeing the man, but it does raise a question in my mind. Is it legal for someone to simply stand in the middle of a public highway with a stop sign? What constitutes a legal stop sign? If a supermarket writes STOP somewhere on their parking lot, does it carry any legal weight?

Don't get me wrong.. this woman deserves to be crucified.. but I'm wondering what the laws really say. If some drunken teenaged child walks into the middle of the freeway with a stop sign, does that mean people have to stop.. or can they drive around him?

Bob

 

[Mrwurm]

Good question Bob. At election time, we have folks who will put their hand out and stop cars as they enter the parking lot of the township hall where we cast our votes. It amazes me that I have to wait in a traffic backup as each car is stopped and "politicalized" by someone with a preference. I think I am the ONLY one I have ever seen that simply drives by and does'nt even look at them.