It happened today and I am glad

[Bigwolf]

I was in my study when I heard the scraping noise.  Bout time to go retrieve the mail anyway so went out and picked it up........the box that is.  Took my mail into the house and came back to see about the young woman depositing a river of tears at the end of my driveway.  Amid the woeful words to her dad on the phone, she managed to tell me her mom and the police were on the way.  I videoed the car and my now not so intact and upright mailbox.  The quickest way I know to capture details.

Mom came and both mom and daughter were apologetic.  I was happy no one was hurt.

That got me to thinking about the large masonry mailbox barnacle that used to sit in that space.  It is good to get ahead of things.  It happens sometimes and this is one of those times.

I bought this house in November 2010.  It had a 6 foot long masonry structure with mailbox in the middle and flower box in each end.  Flower boxes were 2 and half ft high and center mailbox section about 5 ft high.  The whole structure was concrete block filled solid with concrete.  It sat exactly where today's mailbox got ran over. 

My house sits at a T intersection with the stem of the T pointed right at my bedroom.  Not a big deal since these are only neighborhood roads but add some snow and ice........  Well I made the decision to remove that masonry mailbox and flower boxes.  The masonry had not been completely faced so something had to be done anyway.  However, I looked at that intersection and imagined this mornings event happening pretty much exactly as it did.  I tore it all out and put up a regular rural mailbox on post designed to break away preventing serious damage.  It did what it was supposed to do.  ..... Well at least until she tried to back off the post.  Then it grabbed the front bumper covering and tore that off her car.

Bottom line, I am very happy I made the decision to remove the masonry and put up something more forgiving.  That girl's car needs very minor repair.  Had the other mail structure been there, she would have definitely been suffering from air bag injuries and a lot more damage to her car.

As I get older, I remember the follies of my youth and find myself much more forgiving and compassionate when young folks screw up in front of me.  I wonder,.... is wrecking the car a right of teenage passage?  I wrecked one in the first 2 years I was driving.  My brother also, as did one of my sisters.

Bigwolf  Smiling and happy today

[Gryphon Rider]

Do you have a sturdier obstacle closer to your house to prevent faster cars from knocking you out of your bed?

[The emperor has no clothes]

When I was 16 my first 4 wheel vehicle was a '59 Chevy Apache. It had a metal tube sending pressurized oil to the gauge in the dash. It cracked as I was going down the road. I reached down to grab it (I don't know what good that was going to do). But in taking my eyes off the road I veered off and wiped out a mail box, also nearly flipped the truck in a ravine. Spent a full winters day installing a new post and box in the frozen ground. It was a good lesson. As I'm sure it will be for her also. 

[Crazyhorse]

Good way of looking at it Jerry.

[..]

My city is paying people to have their brick megaliths mail boxes removed simply for the reason that people drive into them and hurt themselves.

[f6john]

I have a brick mailbox and it’s staying. Haven’t had to replace a mailbox in over 20 years. Previous to that it was annual event.

[Hooter]

Not allowed here. You can put a 4x4 in the ground but nothing bigger. No steel / stone / brick anything.

[Rams]

As I get older, I remember the follies of my youth and find myself much more forgiving and compassionate when young folks screw up in front of me.  I wonder,.... is wrecking the car a right of teenage passage?  I wrecked one in the first 2 years I was driving.  My brother also, as did one of my sisters.

Bigwolf  Smiling and happy today

Well heck Jerry,
Had I known that was all it was gonna take, I'd have run over your mail box long ago........... 

Rams

[Bigwolf]

Do you have a sturdier obstacle closer to your house to prevent faster cars from knocking you out of your bed?

Yikes!  Talk about a really bad nightmare.
Well no.  I do have a plan in mind but not the money to do it yet.  I am not very concerned about that though.  To put a car in my bedroom, they would have to be going really fast......did I mention this is a residential neighborhood?  No through streets.

Meathead, Cheap lesson for you and for her.  Some other place could have put you or her over a cliff or under a big truck.  Same for me.  I just tore the family car up and had to repair it.

Crazyhorse, Thanks Mac.  As I age, I am getting better at masquerading as a nice guy.

Britman, I believe someone in that city is actually trying to do a good thing.

f6john, I understand.  When I lived in a rural area of WV, I lost a few mailboxes to vandals.  That's mighty aggravating.  Be aware though, if it is within the road right of way, you can be held responsible for damages in many cases.  And almost all rural mailboxes are within the right of way.  Before I removed my masonry barnacle, I talked with US Post Office, my insurance man, and a lawyer.  The thinking/advice was unanimous.

Hooter, I think that is true throughout the country but is rarely ever enforced.

Ron, I like ya but I gotta tell you .... you are not even close to being as easy to look at as the sweet young thing crying over my mailbox and her car this morning.

Bigwolf

[Serk]

House on a sharp corner in my residential neighborhood woke up one night with a car in his living room...

Right after they repaired the damage to his house, large boulders were strategically placed in his yard to..... discourage... a repeat.

[Serk]

Oh, and around here at least, not sure if it's done for safety or to be cheap, but those solid brick looking mailboxes aren't that tough. My dad lightly tapped this one in an icy patch while driving his Toyota Yaris (Ultra econo box thing, teeny tiny car)



The mailbox totally disintegrated into individual bricks and small clumps, he had a minor ding on his car.

[Bigwolf]

Oh, and around here at least, not sure if it's done for safety or to be cheap, but those solid brick looking mailboxes aren't that tough. My dad lightly tapped this one in an icy patch while driving his Toyota Yaris (Ultra econo box thing, teeny tiny car)



The mailbox totally disintegrated into individual bricks and small clumps, he had a minor ding on his car.

Maybe someone was thinking it best to set that one so it would fall apart easily.
My mailbox barnacle was 3 times the size of that and it was filled solid with concrete.  It was very solid!  I used a 20 pound sledge to bust it up and in some parts had to weaken it with a masonry drill.

I don't think the stones behind the sidewalk would be a legal risk.  However, the brick mailbox on the curb is.  At least that is what I was told.

I am wanting to build a stone flower bed/water feature in my front yard.  Not just for pretty but also safety.  I still do not think anyone would make it across my yard and be airborne enough to clear the foundation.  Taking out the foundation would put the hardwood flooring at hood level.  A hot car could get up the speed.  Maybe a police chase loop through the neighborhood.  Who knows? Anything is possible.  What happened this morning I consider to have some probability.

Thanks for all the response folks.
Bigwolf

[DDT (12)]

Jerry,

Nice story with a happy ending... Much of what we have to choose in life is so difficult because there are logical rationales for choosing either option! FWIW, I think you chose wisely...

DDT

[The emperor has no clothes]

Do you have a sturdier obstacle closer to your house to prevent faster cars from knocking you out of your bed?

A few years back a 13 year old son of my Inlaws neighbor snuck out of the house and took his parents car. He was going up and down the street evidently a little faster and faster each time. He lost control at about 60 mph went thru my Inlaws fence, front porch, living room. Luckily this was at 3AM, otherwise they would have been out there watching Fox News. Luckily the kid wasn't hurt either. But man there was a huge amount of property damage.

[POPS 57]

Snow plow has taken out mine last two years. Last year the ground was so frozen had to duct tape it for the rest of the winter. All my buddies had great fun teasing me at the Friday safety meeting. Before anyone asks meeting is held at Lefty's bar Staples M.N 5 pm. Numerous world problems have been solved. 

[Alpha Dog]

Moving in here in 1996 my mailbox got taken out darn near every year for 7 or 8 years.  Either unseen hooligans, drunks, or the last two by country snow plow.  So I installed a 4 x 4 treated T post and secured it with packed sand.  Thus if it it would just fall over, nothing gets broke and a 10 minute job to re secure it. It sure is not pretty, but functional.   It has worked well with only two episodes since and quick repair. 

[Rams]

Ron, I like ya but I gotta tell you .... you are not even close to being as easy to look at as the sweet young thing crying over my mailbox and her car this morning.

Bigwolf

Ya really know how to hurt a man's feelings...............................   

Rams

[Bigwolf]

Moving in here in 1996 my mailbox got taken out darn near every year for 7 or 8 years.  Either unseen hooligans, drunks, or the last two by country snow plow.  So I installed a 4 x 4 treated T post and secured it with packed sand.  Thus if it it would just fall over, nothing gets broke and a 10 minute job to re secure it. It sure is not pretty, but functional.   It has worked well with only two episodes since and quick repair. 

Great idea Alpha.

[michaelyoung254]

Do you have a sturdier obstacle closer to your house to prevent faster cars from knocking you out of your bed?

That's exactly what happened to a friend of mine a few years ago. A drunk in a pickup truck went through the intersection, and crashed into his bedroom while he and his wife were sleeping. His wife was unharmed, but unfortunately, Pat lost his life. He left behind a wife and a son, and many of us lost a good friend. 

[ridingron]

Around here, a lot of the brick mailboxes are actually Styro-foam blocks with a light coating of stucco.

[old2soon]

My Brothers home mail receptacle is covered in real flagstone and somewhat larger than the steel mail boxes you see in front of the post office. Snow plow drivers kept taking the wood or steel post mounted ones out. As he was still in the process of the stone work around his house he built this sorta immoveable object!  The snow plow drivers no longer hit his mail box. I KNOW how my Brother constructs "stuff" and I wouldn't wanna attempt to take out THAT mail box with a 3 axle dump truck snow plow thingy. RIDE SAFE.