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Mailbox Hit.. Again!

post #1 of 39
10/25/07 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
Last year we built a new house on the lot next door and we moved in last spring. We live on a rural road and I installed the mailbox according to the instructions and postal codes. Not even a week went by and it got hit, probably by a car. It was metal so I hammered it out so we could use it. That weekend, we had a yard sale at our old house next door. While we were sitting there on old junky pickup went by. Because he was looking at the yard sale, his rear view mirror hit the mailbox. I straightened it out again and put reflectors on it. Two more weeks went by and it got hit again. I straightened it out one more time.
This time 2 months went by with out any damage, so I replaced it with a RubberMaid plastic one. Next week it was hit but just bent out of place. Then a month later they took the door off. I got a new box and moved it back from where it was by about a foot. I don’t want to go back too far because it is in front of the house across the street. I also put two 2” wide white reflective stripes on it. Today they pegged it big time. The car was at least 1-½ feet off the road. I could see the tire tracks in the dirt. I am not able to salvage it or the post. Mail was all over the yard and we found a windshield wiper. I don’t think it is being done on purpose because of the narrow road and it has a slight hill in it so drivers tend to get to the side.
Any thoughts on what to do? Build one out of concrete? How about a spring loaded one?
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post #2 of 39
10/25/07 at 8:00pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Talk to your mail carrier; ask if he/she has any ideas about locating the box where it won't be so vulnerable.
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post #3 of 39
10/25/07 at 8:06pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

The house I grew up on is on busy route 85 outside Albany, NY. Between the snow plows and the statistical odds of idiots when so many cars go by your house, our mailbox used to get hit about once a year. Finally, when my grandmother bought us a new mailbox like this, my dad filled the base with concrete and continued it a few feet into the ground. People still hit it, sometimes, and their cars are totalled but the mailbox has held up fine.
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post #4 of 39
10/25/07 at 10:49pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

If you place the mailbox on land you own outright, you can do anything you please. However, mailboxes are most often placed on the town or staes right-of-way, so they can be accessed by the mail carrier.

And in certain states and municipalities, constructing a road hazard in the form of a concrete mailbox is forbidden. In others, you may be asked to consult with your insurance agent regarding extra liability coverage.
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post #5 of 39
10/25/07 at 10:58pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

What about placing small boulders -- or large rocks really -- along the edge of the road for ten or twenty feet before your mailbox? When car tires start going over the stones they should realize they're not on the road and will steer back onto it before they reach your box.
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post #6 of 39
10/26/07 at 4:22am
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
When car tires start going over the stones they should realize they're not on the road and will steer back onto it before they reach your box.
I like that idea, but it is located on the properity across the street. I don't know how they would feel about this. I don't know them.
Quote:
If you place the mailbox on land you own outright, you can do anything you please. However, mailboxes are most often placed on the town or staes right-of-way, so they can be accessed by the mail carrier.
I don't that will work. The post office that services my area does not even deliver at all. The mail is delivered by the next closest town. Their stand is that I should just be happy that they are delivering it. It is on the other side of the street because that is where they all are and she can roll down her window to access them. My mailing address is not my town address. Last election they voted to dissolve the local government. The 3 or 4 of them could not even agree to pay the town electric bill. One flashing light and one street light.
Quote:
Talk to your mail carrier; ask if he/she has any ideas about locating the box where it won't be so vulnerable.
I am thinking of moving it up the street some, but then it won't be in front of our driveway. Not a big deal though.
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post #7 of 39
10/26/07 at 4:35am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

What is it about your location that causes so much mailbox trauma? Are you on a corner? Do people in your town swerve wildly as they drive? Are other mailboxes on your street in similar danger? Are you the target of vandalism?
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post #8 of 39
10/26/07 at 5:44am
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

It is a narrow road & a slight hill that they can't see over. Normally you would drive closer to the center because there is next to no traffic. But with the hill, you can't see if a car is coming the other way so you move to the side. If someone did not plan ahead and there is a car coming, they over react and swerve off the road. My old house's mailbox only got hit once because it is located in a ditch.
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post #9 of 39
10/26/07 at 8:22am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Moving the mailbox does seem the bests solution-- if it can be made more visible. You don't want to make an accident deadlier. In some municipalities, particularly ones with snowplow service, concrete mounted posts are illegal.

(Since the state or town owns the road, they also have the right to restrict building on the road's right of way. And since the post office won't deliver to mailboxes that aren't close enough to the road to be off the right of way, well...)
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post #10 of 39
10/27/07 at 1:55pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I put up a new box today. I moved it about 20' up the road further and closer to the ditch. I also set it back further, added reflectors and reflective tape. The mail lady drives a jeep, so it shouldn't be an issue getting off the pavement a little. Here is pics of the old box. The frame is bent up, plastic ed and door missing.


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post #11 of 39
10/27/07 at 4:19pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

This would have made an excellent side plot in a Douglas Adams book. Unfortunately I cannot give any advice other than anchoring the mailbox and reinforcing it with steel rebar. Although it would be interesting to place a second mailbox next to your real one with no address visible and fill it with concrete...
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post #12 of 39
10/27/07 at 4:20pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

You need one with a motor that retracts into the ground when it detects a large mass coming towards it!

..or maybe install the mailbox on a large spring, therefore it'll bounce back up when hit..

Jay
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post #13 of 39
10/27/07 at 5:46pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Swing away mailbox support
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post #14 of 39
10/27/07 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I was thinking of one that pivoted 360 and had a hammer on the back side that would hit the car as it passed. But chances are that a innocent child in the back seat would get hit.
I might try that swing away next time. Cool crash videos
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post #15 of 39
10/27/07 at 10:35pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay H
You need one with a motor that retracts into the ground when it detects a large mass coming towards it!

Kind of like that road construction fence in front of the batcave in the old 1960s Batman TV show!

As soon as the batmobile approached the fence...down it went and they could stealthily slip in or out of the ol' batcave!
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post #16 of 39
10/28/07 at 5:16am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I went to school in Vermont and had a couple "locals" in my dorm suit. They would amuse us "city slickers" with tales of their adolescence; screwing with farmers by moving farm equipment from one field to another in the middle of the night, the classic "cow tipping," and "mail box baseball."

In "mail box baseball," a group of kids would drive around, taking turns "at bat," knocking the shit out of mail boxes along the road with a baseball bat as they drove by.

It could be that your mailbox is being vandalized.
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post #17 of 39
10/28/07 at 7:09am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

My rural mailbox was vandalized so I decided to go the revenge route. You can purchase virtually indestructible mailboxes and the post is made from 1/4" inch extruded aluminum. I buried the post 2 feet with 4 rebars in the center and poured 2 bags of concrete to keep in place. The mailbox itself is 1/8" steel an weighs about 25 pounds. Within 2 months it was hit by a Ford product because the right rear view mirror was on the ground beside it. All I had to do was bend back the edge a little and it was as good as new. If kids want to vandalize it they'll break their bat.
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post #18 of 39
10/28/07 at 9:40am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

When I was a kid, I was following a snow plow on a rural road and saw the driver make a special effort to swerve and hit each mailbox he came upon. I regret not reporting him to this day, but I doubt they would have done anything about it at the time.
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post #19 of 39
10/28/07 at 11:20am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KurtEP
...the driver make a special effort to swerve and hit each mailbox he came upon.

Kurt,
Did he actually hit or damage the boxes?
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post #20 of 39
10/28/07 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
One flashing light and one street light.
Every third flash is a little slower.
Quote:
screwing with farmers by moving farm equipment from one field to another in the middle of the night, the classic "cow tipping,"
This thread started to remind me of the movie "Cars". Then I remembered the Wigwam motel located right off the interstate here. Now I am thinking "Cozy Cone"

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post #21 of 39
10/28/07 at 12:48pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Gale
Kurt,
Did he actually hit or damage the boxes?

Snowplow > mailbox. I'm guessing that the snowplow won and TKO'd those mailboxes
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post #22 of 39
10/28/07 at 12:58pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Gale
Kurt,
Did he actually hit or damage the boxes?

Yeah, he hit several of them. I don't remember how badly damaged they were, it was quite a long time ago.
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post #23 of 39
10/28/07 at 1:37pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KurtEP
Yeah, he hit several of them. I don't remember how badly damaged they were, it was quite a long time ago.

I asked because I was wondering if there was a method to the madness.
Thought he might be providing access to the mail carrier by cutting in close to the box.
If he was actually hitting then, not so helpful.
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post #24 of 39
2/16/08 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Mailbox got hit again today. Looking at my original post date, it has been 4 months now. This time it is not so bad though, just the knob off the front. The last time I mounted it, I put it so far off the road, the hwy dept put a 1' wide gravel shoulder for the mail truck. I guess I can't put it back any further. If it gets totaled, I will try one of those swing away ones.
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post #25 of 39
2/16/08 at 5:07pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
This time it is not so bad though, just the knob off the front. .

You can usually replace that with a drawer pull and your mail person will want you to do that.
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post #26 of 39
2/17/08 at 11:09am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I have a feling that a rural municipality would have no problem with you taling 'defensive' measures such as concrete reinforced. If they DO have troubles, you could get some 4" PVC pipe, sink it into the ground (empty) then paint it grey (to look like concrete) with a yellow top. It would look much like the reinforced concrete barriers in gas stations, etc. but be no real threat...

Oooorrrr, you could get a cheap white sedan and park it in front of your house. With a bit of touching up it could resemble a law enforcement vehicle quite nicely. Not to mention - if they hit the car your mailbox is safe and now they are guilty of hit and run if they don't report it.
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post #27 of 39
2/18/08 at 9:46am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

The real solution is to get a PO box. Besides having the box knocked down, there's also the very real problem of mail theft.

I'm amazed people still have unsecured mail boxes where anyone can steal their mail.

All the advice on putting up the box is practically worthless if someone is intentionally knocking the box down, which is common.
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post #28 of 39
2/18/08 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I don't think it is being intentionaly being damaged, just people having troubles staying on a narrow road. This is the 6th time in 10 months. I could get a PO box, but the closest one is 15 minutes away and I never go that way.
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post #29 of 39
2/18/08 at 1:40pm

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

Quote:
Swing away mailbox support
I just noticed the ad for this suggests you install the Swing-Away mailbox with an eight pound sludge hammer.
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post #30 of 39
2/19/08 at 3:57am

Re: Mailbox Hit.. Again!

I am convinced the plow guys aim for my mailbox. I bought my house from a guy that many people in the town didn't like very well. I don't think the plow guys know he doesn't live there anymore. It's has been knocked off three times this winter and now the only thing holding it on are some old Thule straps from my kayak rack. They have held quite well through a few storms so far. When spring gets here I'm going to modify the post a little and remount the box with some stainless steel to deflect any snow or baseball bat hits.
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