If someone damaged their car by driving into it

How do they sue for them hitting a stationary object?

Having a pavement with an extended drop kerb out side my house I’d gladly drop a boulder or fit bollards to stop the **** that use it as a handy extension to the road when they can’t be bothered stopping for oncoming traffic. Of course the fact they can’t see if anyone is about to step out from a garden doesn’t enter their empty heads.

I’d like to know where putting such things sits in the hierarchy compared to deliberately driving at speed on the verge or pavement.

Buy a coach or similar and park it there permanently?

A load of planters at strategic distances, with some pretty flowers in, magically appeared overnight?

Or a giant inflatable boulder?

This is genius. Put a real boulder inside though to stop it blowing away.

Couple of roadcones would do the trick.

I highly doubt that. Next door tried that after Storm Maude or whatever it was called shook a bit of their roof loose, they cordoned off a small section of the path / road for safety until the roofer turned up. The “I’ll only be a minute” brigade predictably turned up en masse as soon as the chippy opened, after replacing them three times in the space of about half an hour I gave up. On your own head be it, so the saying goes.

unless you own the verge you don’t have any right to put anything permanent on it.

A boulder isn’t permanent though, is it? It’s not attached to anything, it could readily be picked up and carried away (for some value of “readily”…)

Put a couple of those round top concrete bollards in. They seem to last forever and are indestructible. And they look like council items too. In fact no one from the council would know if they were theirs or not anyway even if they tried to check.

I do like the idea of the deep pit. I would take great pleasure in digging one of those.

If people are too stupid not to drive into solid objects that’s their problem.

I wish I knew this 20 years ago when a large tractor forced me onto the verge outside a house where the owner had put some large stones.
I bent both near side wheels and burst both tyres.

You mean you were going too fast and couldn’t stop when a tractor came the other way?

If you could be sued for putting boulders there does that mean you have a duty of care to anyone who drives on the verge? Would you also have a presumed duty to maintain it to stop drivers getting stuck in the mud?

No, I thought not. As long as whatever you do is very visible, I’d just crack on. If speeding drivers go off the road and hit very visible things, that’s their problem.

I’ve similar issues on the estate I live on. Road, grass verge / border, then pavement, then boundary hedges. Lots of areas around the estate the curb stones have sunk or been swallowed up by successive road resurfacing.

There are big, muddy tyre tracks all over the place, combined with residents complaining about the mud. The same residents who drive over the grass verges because they insist on parking off the road because it’s narrow.

🙄

You mean you were going too fast and couldn’t stop when a tractor came the other way?

I took it more as the tractor barged through and the poster had nowhere else to go.

Having now looked at the pic it’s clear that the cars mounting the kerb are a danger to pedestrians so you’d be doing a public service stopping them.

Leave lots of large kids toys scattered along the verge? Some drivers (not all, obviously) may think twice about using said verge cos they think kids are playing on it…

If you complain too much the council will just replace the grass with tarmac.

How about just parking a car there to form a chicane?

You mean you were going too fast and couldn’t stop when a tractor came the other way?

No – but don’t let small things, such as facts, get in the way of your supposition.

I took it more as the tractor barged through and the poster had nowhere else to go.

Yes (very large tractor appearing at speed round a blind corner on a road not wide enough for a V70 and a large tractor)

Leave lots of large kids toys scattered along the verge?

Art installation?

I can do you a series of these if you want 🙂

What Could Possibly Go Wrong.

No – but don’t let small things, such as facts, get in the way of your supposition.

I didn’t – hence the question mark at the end of my sentence. I was asking if you were going too fast, not stating that you were.

Maybe it works asa a link
Outside ours. During the week the other side of the road is lined with parked cars and as you can see it’s a bus route. Plus buses for the school opposite park there in the afternoons.
I suspect some of these tracks are buses’. If we did block the verge the snarl ups would just last longer.

Of course, the solution is for students either to take the bus or walk/ride, but not drive to lessons. Or yellow lines a the way.

In Scotland you can ask a council for permission as per the Roads SCotland ACt. S51.

“The roads authority may in writing authorise an owner or occupier of land adjoining a public road, or any other person, to plant or maintain trees, shrubs, grass or other plants within, or partly within, the boundaries of that road subject to such conditions as the authority may specify in the authorisation.”

If there is similar provisions in England ask the council then plant some sort of 3 ft high shrub. Big enough nobody will drive over it and small enough not to block sightlines.

Not far from me a bloke has put up some small fence posts painted white with reflective bits on and planted bulbs. Looks nice, isn’t going to do much damage if any. Seems to stop the issue.
Btw. If the council noticed or responded to anything other that a couple of 1000 people, a Facebook campaign, insta and twitter onslaught, a fatality and questions from the local MP in Parliament I would be very surprised.

We had issues with the School Run mob driving over the verges all along our street – three or four years ago, we put large plastic planters out, maybe two feet round, 18 inches high, put some bedding plants in, looked lovely as spring came on. They all got driven over and destroyed, one at a time, last one might have lasted 18 months, no comms from the council, mower folks mowed round them no bother. Fortunately the council installed double drop kerbs shortly after, so now the verges are fine and my days are cheered by reporting the tits who park on other people’s drives, but the sheer “**** you”-ness of the wilful destruction of quite pretty planters angers me to this day.

I’d go for planters. Look nicer than boulders or bollards. Wouldn’t really be fussed of the council owned the verge or not. If someone is stupid enough to drive into them then so be it. Could have been a baby robin!

Do like the idea of a trench covered in ply and turfed over. Make sure you have a video camera setup so we can all see the results 🤣

We planted a tree to stop people parking on “our” verge.
Looks nice, helps create a nicer environment and salutes our monarch’s glorious 70 years on the throne.

+1 this, and well done that person.

I’d be happy to help the OP plant a tree if they’re anywhere near North Wilts. I even have some hi vis to make it look official. ‘Plant a tree for the Jubilee’ is a thing this year, so just shout that at any curtain twitchers. It’s still bare root season so a good time to be planting trees.

In Hampshire you can request that the council plant a tree on a verge. You might find your council have a similar service. https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/roadmaintenance/roadproblems/tree-planting

Leaving large rocks on your verge is erratic behaviour.

IGMC.

https://www.barriersdirect.co.uk/bollards-c1022/plastic-bollards-traffic-cones-c1113/traffic-posts-can-be-driven-over-without-causing-damage-3-sizes-p7934
FTW

If it was my verge I’d be burying a few 5 foot concrete posts 4 foot into the ground, let the grass grow then watch the entertainment.
If it wasn’t my verge I’d be dropping a few boulders on it whilst no one was looking and if asked “boulders? What boulders? Tsk, bloody fly tippers”

I think wooden planters, though slightly more hassle than boulders, would look a lot nicer & not elicit any complaints. It would be pretty obvious that you and the other neighbour had done it (unless you can rope the whole street it, or just do the whole street between you) but would anyone actually tip the council off, or would they notice otherwise?

Leaving large rocks on your verge is erratic behaviour.

IGMC.

Could be construed as intrusive

Although if enough of your neighbors joined in you could form a conglomerate

Gneiss

If it was my verge I’d be burying a few 5 foot concrete posts 4 foot into the ground

I’ve seen something similar, when people didn’t know it was a service strip and that there were live 11000V cables buried 600mm deep. That time it was 9nly a 750mm fencing spike. Oh, and the time the local council augured into them to erect street lighting columns.

Can’t you just park a car on the verge and torch it?

Act as a visual deterrent and maybe if you did a convertible you could plant some flowers in it later.

Id put some rocks on that to protect the flowers that id planted, then id cut around the flowerbeds. The council will come to cut it, see that someone else has taken the bother and walk away… But i wouldnt post on social media that it was me… I do a similar thing already, but without the rocks and the land actually belongs to a neighbour, but he is a lazy $hite and doesnt look after it, so i do – is this social media?

Quite a few people round our way do it, well the ones with nice verges do.

How about a boulder in the Vosges?

The neighbouring road to ours has an issue with speeders, as its a 20 but its also the “main” rat run/route off the main road. All semi detached or detached houses with driveways, but they all just started parking on the road instead. seems effective, though i suppose you might have to update your insurance.
Also, no restrictions i can see on parking a trailer on the road, so you could buy a litle trailer, park it up (legally) and fill it with compost and plants if you wanted (or a boulder)