Installing speed ramps on a private road

[Ratz]

We live at the entrance of a small T-shaped cul-de-sac with only 9 houses on it and no pavement. Unfortunately for us (and by us I mean 8 of the houses) we have a psycopath living in one of the houses furthest from the entrance. To give you a flavour of the man in the last 2 years his behaviour has included:
1.. Starving the entire road of mains water for 2 separate days by messing around with the road stop tap(which is in the road outside his house). When the water board arrived he chased the man away while verbally abusing him.
2.. Parked his pickup outside his neighbours house (who are from Hong Kong) with a banner saying "Go home, only British people are wanted here".
3.. Trimmed his trees/bushes and blown the debris on his neighbours driveway, resulting in an altercation in which the neighbour was left unconscious from a blow to the head with a broom.

The reason for listing this is to give a measure of the seriousness of my post. There is a dossier on this man and the police are well aware of his activities, but not it seems in possession of enough evidence to press for a meaningful criminal conviction. They feel they only have enough to incur a small fine which they think would not have the desired effect.

My question today is related to another of his regular activities, hurtling up and down the road (forwards and backwards) at a speed which causes him to nearly hit the opposite curb on exiting the cul-de-sac onto the adjoining (public) road. This in a 1960's Crayford Corsair, the reason for which I mention being that it is not exactly state of the art with brakes etc.

So finally, can we install a speed bump to try to discourage his activities on a private road, does anyone have any ideas/experience?

My apologies for the long rambling post, but we have a 3 yr old son and most of the other residents are retired/infirm. The poor chinese people living next door to him have 3 young children.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[imadoofus]

I think you need to take your request to the council. Get the neighbours on side too.

If you're lucky, this guy doesn't own his house (maybe he rents it), in which case you might be able to get him evicted, although that could cost a fair bit.

PJ

 

[Ratz]

I think you need to take your request to the council. Get the neighbours on side too.

If you're lucky, this guy doesn't own his house (maybe he rents it), in which case you might be able to get him evicted, although that could cost a fair bit.

PJ

Wasn't sure about the involvement of the coucil, can't hurt to enquire of course - thanks.

Unfortunately he owns .

 

[Alfie]

Private road means you (the majority) should be able to erect whatever you like. How about a chicane with a diagonal speed bump

If he has racially abused the neighbours then there are a whole host of options open to you/them.

What does this guy do for a living? Where does he work? Is he married/with a partner/does he rent the house? The answers to all these can help in dealing with him?

 

[ibrar]

Someone obtain his car keys, and fill his car up in the poly-styrene chippings via his sunroof. This will surely narf him off enough, to leave your cul-de-sac

 

[TonyVianoAmbiente]

The reason for listing this is to give a measure of the seriousness of my post. There is a dossier on this man and the police are well aware of his activities, but not it seems in possession of enough evidence to press for a meaningful criminal conviction. They feel they only have enough to incur a small fine which they think would not have the desired effect.

SNIPPED ...

So finally, can we install a speed bump to try to discourage his activities on a private road, does anyone have any ideas/experience?

On the first point, even if there isn't enough evidence for a criminal conviction it sounds as though there would be more than enough for an ASBO. Perhaps something to consider? If he then breaches the terms of the ASBO he is up for a conviction.

On the second point, who owns the private road? If it is not adopted by the council, it might be owned jointly by you and your neighbours, including the alleged miscreant. You may even need his permission to install a speed hump. You will probably need to consult a solicitor - it would be useful to get advice on his behaviour at the same time.

Don't forget that speed humps need to be clearly visible with advance warning signs in both directions.

 

[Ratz]

Unfortunately the racial abuse was not reported at the time(I didn't witness this) and one of the neighbours who had a digital photo of it didn't keep it for reasons unknown.

My understanding is that we (the residents) are responsible for the road and what happens to it for repairs and the like, what I wasn't sure about was modifications such as speed ramps in the interests of safety. Of course just having some intelligence and not driving stupidly would be a much better solution.

He has been warned about his driving by the police but as you may have guessed normal behavioural logic does not apply here.

Thanks for all your suggestions - and yes I have thought of more direct methods but do not want him to have any excuses come conviction time .

 

[kikkthecat]

In the next Cul de sac to me they had a problem with a Range Rover owner who contantly drove too fast down the street. They responded by parking cars on the street staggering them on opposite sides to slow him down.

I think the rest of his behavior probably justifies burning his house down. Not that I would condone such a thing.

 

[Sp!ke]

It sounds to me like this chap is an absolute fruitcake.

If you put in a speed hump I wouldn't be surprised if he removes it, based upon what he has done so far.

Incredible that there's not been enough evidence to administer some kind of justice to make this chap think about the consequences of his actions. Surely the banner on the car is racial discrimination.. and there were witnesses, the altercations, some form of assault, ABH or even GBH and the water issue equally easy to prosecute both in terms of threatening the water board personel and for the interruption to everyones supply.

Once again, the law displaying complete inefectualness in dealing with a problem that should be very easy to resolve. (Aparently crime is down don't you know.)

An ASBO seems like an obvious starting point, followed by an injunction order should he not tow the line. If all of the households in the street stood united against this man then surely action could be taked swiftly to prevent this behavior?

 

[ibrar]

It sounds to me like this chap is an absolute fruitcake.

fruitcake! hahaha:bannana:

 

[ROBB]

Personally, i'd be contacting the Wilmslow Chapter with an offer: All the beer you can handle for the duration of a good kicking

That's my opinion.

rob

 

[Ratz]

It sounds to me like this chap is an absolute fruitcake.

If you put in a speed hump I wouldn't be surprised if he removes it, based upon what he has done so far.

Incredible that there's not been enough evidence to administer some kind of justice to make this chap think about the consequences of his actions. Surely the banner on the car is racial discrimination.. and there were witnesses, the altercations, some form of assault, ABH or even GBH and the water issue equally easy to prosecute both in terms of threatening the water board personel and for the interruption to everyones supply.

Once again, the law displaying complete inefectualness in dealing with a problem that should be very easy to resolve. Aparently crime is down don't you know.

An ASBO seems like an obvious starting point, followed by an injunction order should he not tow the line. If all of the households in the street stood united against this man then surely action could be taked swiftly to prevent this behavior?

As with most of these things the devil is in the detail, and I have some confidence that the police are doing the best they can within the legal framework. However, what worries me is that they are waiting for him to go even further over the edge to be able to obtain a better (I use the term advisedly) case for a more serious conviction.

The broom incident was only witnessed once in full flow, so all the psycopath did was claim he was acting in self defence.

All the neighbours have already give signed statements about various incidents which have occurred over years, I have to admit I am not clear why this does not constitute enough of a case for something like an ASBO. The police said that they wanted to start by trying to modify his behaviour and if he persisted then they would take further action.

Oh and the sting in the tail - he is of Spanish origin, so his wife has claimed to the police that it is the neighbours who are racist.

 

[verytalldave]

The guy sounds as though he is 2 clowns short of a full circus.

I would be very wary about doing anything in that situation. A loose cannon can go off in any direction and at any time.

Maybe someone else in the close has "friends" who could "persuade" him to be more considerate towards his neighbours. Some people only respond to a heavy hand, and he sounds as if he could be one of those.

 

[Ratz]

The guy sounds as though he is 2 clowns short of a full circus.

I would be very wary about doing anything in that situation. A loose cannon can go off in any direction and at any time.

Maybe someone else in the close has "friends" who could "persuade" him to be more considerate towards his neighbours. Some people only respond to a heavy hand, and he sounds as if he could be one of those.

Yes, I believe the loose cannon metaphor is very relevant in this case.

I have plenty of friends and family who would willingly help with some behavioural modification but I don't wish to sink to his bullying level. The reason he has got away with things this far is that the neighbours wouldn't tackle him individually. Thankfully in recent months we have got together and support each other.

 

[Corrado]

If you have a residents' committee that looks after the road (who else arranges for its maintenance?) then it seems likely he would be outvoted - were he to attend. The trick (and tricky bit) may be for the band of residents to devise a way of justifying the introduction of speedbumps for a reason that does not make it appear as if its directed towards him - perhaps that's cloud cuckooland! I 'd guess if he took it personally a large number of residents could suffer a sustained drought.

Friends live in a private road maintained by residents' committee and had speedbumps installed. I don't know whether legal advice was required, but as it is private, I imagine they are free to do with it as they will. The bumps certainly aren't up to public road spec. and have no markings.

 

[television]

Unadopted roads are difficult things, and can be expensive or cheap, I have lived in 2,,on one where we made the road up, the council took it over.
What ever you do involves everyone and anything done has to be done to road engineering standards, I would avoid the hump idea

 

[robert.saunders]

If you and the other residents form a community group (seek advice from your local council) you may find you can bring civil procedures against this individual anyway, it's not necessary for the police to invoke an ASBO. The court decides; you can use community safety from your local council to glean advice, and I would seek legal advice also.

I wouldn't recommend the heavy handed approach frankly, despite the perhaps natural urge to do so

 

[Dieselman]

Perhaps rather than speed humps....

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=480119&postcount=22

 

[IanA2]

Is this is in effect a private "estate" ie a group of privately owned houses with their own road for which they are responsible?.Is there a covenant? I ask because I lived in a similar situation once, a group of four houses and two flats in four acre "estate" for which we held the land and freeholds in common by way of a limited company, we had a "right to peaceably enjoy" convenant. Don't know if that helps.

 

[Ratz]

Is this is in effect a private "estate" ie a group of privately owned houses with their own road for which they are responsible?.Is there a covenant? I ask because I lived in a similar situation once, a group of four houses and two flats in four acre "estate" for which we held the land and freeholds in common by way of a limited company, we had a "right to peaceably enjoy" convenant. Don't know if that helps.

I am willing to explore any avenue(excuse the pun) at the moment, thanks for the information.