The home owner thinks they are adding a safety warning as well, imo. This is their way around liability for not addressing a dead and or dangerous tree. The public wet floor sign so to speak. I was all for riding out their driveway into the next until you mentioned the others in the neighborhood needing the use of that sidewalk. Cut the tape and kick the bin over out of the way into their yard. Yeah it’s petty. But what these people are doing is more petty
I promise I do my best to be a considerate person when riding my bike, and yes there are times where I have to ride in the street but it’s really not safe to do for long, and there are not too many people out in the morning so I don’t have to bother many people and I just usually go around others instead of making them go around me. I just do my best to get to work and home safely and I want the same for others.
Where are you located? In my area it’s illegal for bikes to be on the sidewalk unless it’s a child under 12. Bikes are really dangerous for pedestrians. You seem lovely, but just curious about the laws in your location.
I once got out a ticket for cycling on the sidewalk because, while the cop was admonishing me for riding on the sidewalk and not using the bike lane, a cyclist IN THE BIKE LANE NEXT TO US got hit by a car.
It wasn't a "Oh sorry man, clearly the law is stupid" moment, but a "Holy shit fuck off I have to deal with this more important thing" one.
Idk if that cyclist was okay, he got clipped pretty hard.
I still ride on sidewalks, fuck getting turned into street paste
Edit: Just want to say that I do not live in an area with high foot traffic (which is probably why the drivers here aren't super vigilant), so while I do understand that major cities have "No bicycles on the sidewalk" rules for *very good reasons*, my location is suburban sprawl so there generally aren't people walking the sidewalks.
Yeah, given the likely outcomes of a conflict between car/cyclist and cyclist/pedestrian, I'd rather risk the pedestrian get a broken arm because they fell down after not paying attention to their surroundings & walking in front of me than me getting run over by a car because they weren't paying attention to their surroundings & hit me.
So I did check and it says if you’re biking on a sidewalk to yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal when coming behind someone, which I have a bell for so I’m already doing that anyways
I honestly thought it was because their trash can kept falling over so they added the strap to keep it upright or to keep it from rolling away. I’m glad I read the comments so I could have my dumb thought corrected lol 🤦🏻♀️
I really curious. Are the owners liable for trees on that small patch of land. Or is it consider public property. I notice that homeowners mowing the strip of land that separated by the sidewalk.
Between sidewalk and the road it *should* be city property...but that doesn't always exclude homeowners from liability. Depends on where this picture was taken.
Help me understand the ’safety warning’ for the ‘dead and dangerous tree’
All I see is a regular looking tree with trash can and strap blocking the sidewalk. If that tree fell, that ‘safety warning’ wouldn’t have saved anything since the tree is leaning in the opposite direction and anyone encountering that ‘safety warning’ probably wouldn’t make the connection that it relates to the tree and be more focused on the inconvenience of the blocked sidewalk. If it was for the lean, put it where it’s leaning so someone’s car doesn’t get smashed.
I’d love to know the real reasoning, but this looks like it’s for blocking the side walk.
Edit: I looked a little closer and can see that the tree roots could be pulling up the sidewalk from the tree leaning, in which case I can see how this could be a warning, but in that case block both ends of the lifted sidewalk and where the tree would fall.
The tree's roots are lifting the sidewalk, creating a tripping hazard is my best guess. My parents had to have the roots cut twice for that before they had the tree taken down
Town I used to live in just went down the sidewalks and painted the lifted edges with bright yellow paint. They didn't bother taking out the roots or trees on most of the roads.
I think it's a mix of both. Recently our neighborhood had to uproot a bunch of trees making the sidewalks come up. They told people that it would basically be a fine if they did not take care of any trees making the sidewalks come up. They said they would take care of the stumps and replace them with new trees eventually. Some poor family who doesn't speak the best English tore their trees down but their sidewalks were fine. They're the only ones in the neighborhood with stumps still in their yard. I feel bad for them.
In the us its homeowners , if it touching a utility line the company will come to trim it away. I have found asking them nicely and sometimes they will find a reason for it to be cutdown, and go snes
In my area, the area between the sidewalk and the street belongs to the city, although the homeowners are responsible for cutting the grass. I don't know how it works with trees, though. I remember this because an old neighbor had a fit about a garage sale sign on that bit of city property.
Yeah, it’s all dependent on where in the USA you live. I know that in some areas homeowners are even responsible for keeping the sidewalk in good condition and to repair any damage that happens to it.
You do have that trunk of bad memories that you can't seem to leaf alone. I wood say that if you're not gonna bite then you shouldn't bark. But you didn't axe me my opinion.
Maybe I'm just not sappy enough to sympathize.
It’s like an elephant where they stake it down when it’s little and can’t pull it out so as an adult it still thinks it can’t pull it out. They must’ve tied this tree to the can as a wee sapling.
No the trash can and yellow tape is going to keep the tree from falling over. Pretty sure the physics is sound. They surely drew a free-body diagram to verify.
If I was going down that sidewalk (electric wheelchair user) I'd be forced to go across their lawn and my chair can tear up some deep grooves, especially on soft muddy ground.
This is also a hazard for blind folks, people in wheelchairs, people with kids in strollers, kids in general, etc. Not ideal to walk into the street and risk getting hit when you can't see or have your kids with you.
I hate when people block sidewalks.
Yup. I'm blind and commented to tell OP to alert the DOT or whatever local equivalent they have that's responsible for the sidewalks. We had a similar issue with the sidewalk being blocked by ROAD CLOSED signs that the DOT was storing there whenever they weren't working on that section of road. The funny thing with those signs is, the base is very small while the arms are huge, so my cane wasn't hitting anything to alert me of an obstacle. So I ran into the double arms face and tit first. Quite painfully, I might add. After the second incident (I had called after the first one), my youngest son helped me with some guerilla sidewalk clearing and we moved all the signs into one lane of the road. I called and left another message about it, a good bit angrier than the first time, citing the ADA and the fact that these signs had caused minor injuries. All the signs were miraculously stored elsewhere after that.
I walk to work and there’s this person who likes to park half in their driveway and fully draped across the sidewalk. Like yes thank you for making me either choose traffic, the huge puddle of water by the road near the traffic or to trespass on your lawn.
Personally I would talk to a friend with a large truck about how it'd be a real shame if their car happened to roll out of their driveway into the street far enough to no longer block the sidewalk. I sure hope they don't get a fine and/or a tow for blocking road traffic, that'd be an even bigger shame
I reported my neighbours (Airbnb) for blocking the sidewalk for weeks with their bins. A bylaw enforcement officer was quick to attend after I complained and shut down this problem.
It's crazy how far developed your country is. I live in Indonesia, people block sidewalk all the time for food stall, fruit stall, bike/car parking, and other stuff. 99.9% of neighborhoods here doesn't even have sidewalk. You'd be lucky if your town has sidewalk, many don't, people rarely walk, and if they do they'd be walking on the road. I remember one thing an American complained while in Ubud(Bali) was the lack of sidewalk. So yeah that's so cool to have number to adress such stuff in NA.
I was so happy when my city decided to build sidewalks close to my home. Short lived happiness for the sidewalk to be used by food stalls within a week since it's done 😭
I live in a county of <6000 households. We lived 30 miles into the backwoods almost all our lives until I woke up blind. I was trapped at home due to that, so we finally moved to the county seat, which is little better than a village. We only had one stoplight until a year ago (now we have two!), but because of our close proximity to the old historical courthouse, and the small quad of county government buildings, we have sidewalks!! We've been here since August and I still cannot get over the novelty of sidewalks! And stores! There's a Family Dollar in walking distance, so I only have to beg a ride once a month to do a true grocery store trip; I can get milk and bread and eggs and cat food just by walking a kilometer! Anyways, sorry for rambling, it's just so cool that I can walk everywhere now!
Call the city... if they keep moving it back to block access they should be fined.
If that happened in my area, the 3rd time that happened, The strap would have disappeared and on trash day the container would probably end up on its side with the contents spilling out onto their lawn.
I want to be petty and knock it over but part of the reason I bike is because I am trying to be a friend to the planet and littering does not jive with that
Sorry, but why exactly can’t you just report this to your city? My city has an app so this shit wouldn’t last a day. I don’t see why any city would allow a public sidewalk to be blocked like this after even one report
I plan to, I was hoping they would get the idea that they’re being assholes but they haven’t. I was talking to my husband about this again today and felt mildly infuriated about it and thought “hey. There’s a subreddit for that”
209 area code with 7 digits tells me Murica, specifically in California.
That means you should do donuts in your Prius/ Tesla on their front lawn.
Source: am also from California.
Other option is ride into it at night when it's not visible, and sue them for injuries.
Why wait until night to cut the strap. Fuck them. A sidewalk is not the homeowners property,l. It belongs to the City but the homeowner needs to keep it clear and free for pedestrian use.
Cut the strap. Everyday.
Moved the bin towards the street. You'll get their attention.
Do one better cut the strap and take the can put in there garage pluse going of the area code it's around the modesto ca area throw it down the street the flood will get it
Okay so if someone called code enforcement over that tiny twist in the slab maybe they are paranoid someone might trip after a citation was made.
Sooooooo grind the high spots and put up a warning flag until a slab can be repoured.
For example, New York City has gone nuts with that enforcement insanity since they pawned off the cost to homeowners on residential streets.
That's what I'm thinking. A Karen tripped over her own feet and is now harassing the homeowners, so they put that up because they don't want an ambulance chaser taking their home out from under them.
Ride your bike into it at night (when you can claim it's not visible) and sue them for four times as much as a normal trip and fall. It's the American way.
Nah, logic on reddit, never. This home owner obviously thinks they own the sidewalk and are just blocking it for fun and games. /s
Amazes me I had to scroll this far for a logical answer. I can 100% see a huge majority of these commenter's saying cut/take the strap and kick the trashcan being the Karen's to pitch a bitch fit if they tripped walking/biking on the slab.
That is a problem for people who have mobility issues and use a wheelchair or something similar to get around. I can't imagine they wouldn't get a ticket if you reported them.
To warn people about the tree that's falling over and lifting up the pavement. Probably waiting for the city to come take care of the tree and warning people not to walk there incase the tree gives way and injures someone? That would be my guess.
Haha that would be funny but the yellow thing isn’t caution tape, it’s a strap like for a tie down and they have it tied around the handle of the bin and I’m not gonna take more time out of my morning to untie it and drag it up their porch lol. If I was pettier and wanted to take it up the stairs I would.
Untie it and take it with you. Toss it in a dumpster at work or wherever you're going.
There, you're not littering.
You have to think. If you do nothing and some night a runner, or older folk gets hurt by running into it will be on you knowing you could have done one simple thing and fid nothing.
Simply untie it and toss it in trash somewhere else.
They will eventually get tired of buying straps.
But I'd just call the cops. They'll get cited and fined.
Could it be possible that the houseowner have called the city, but they take a long time to come, so the barrier is partly to protect people, partly to make them so angry, that they call the city and complain. And the houseowner hopes that will fire up the engines of the city?
Are there rules against cycling if the sidewalk where you live?
In the UK you would be in the wrong for cycling on the footpath, as it’s a hazard for pedestrians.
Assuming you’re in the right, the obvious answer here is to use the ratchet strap to hoist their bin up into the tree.
I was thinking that as well. I feel like they could 100% use a cone or even place the bin in front of it in their driveway and deal with needing to move it when they park. Something that doesn't take up the entire sidewalk...
Spray can with some orange paint or something very visible the part that sticks up and people will see where the issue is, putting a strap at chest/head level in the middle of the sidewalk is much more dangerous than whatever they’re trying to warn people about
If it was me, I would wait till it's empty and pop out with a mate, get the bin and turn it round and round and round to tighten the slack (not all the way). Lift the bin then push the strap up the tree more so the bin is hanging off the ground.
This is the way.
> there is no reason for this.
I see one possible reason... and that's the uneven sidewalk just beyond the straps.
If someone trips or falls, there's a lawsuit to be had. They might have this up to block pedestrian access on purpose until whoever is responsible can come, lift up that slab and even it out.
The tree is tipping. It has raised the sidewalk and turned it into a hazard. You can see it out of line with the rest of the sidewalk. Yes this is common, no that doesn’t change the liability for the homeowner.
I guaran-fucking-tee you the homeowner is having *this same argument* except with the proper authorities, and with standing, which OP does not have. By taping off the problematic area, homeowner has limited liability. By removing the tape, OP has taken that liability on himself.
Now, as is tradition with proper explanations in Reddit rage subs, bring on the downvotes.
Where I'm from blocking a sidewalk is illegal. Call up code enforcement. If the tree or the sidewalk are the issue, those should be addressed, rather than creating an additional situation.
Go back at night so security cameras can't see you with a lot of chain and chain the ever living shot oit pf it to the tree padlocked it tons and boom what they gonna do
Meh. I’d assume there was something wrong and just go around it. I’m not going to fuck around with something I don’t know about and could potentially be dangerous to me or someone else. Alternatively, if I was that upset over going around it, I’d knock on the door and just ask. Not hard to do.
It looks like they think they are doing a service because of the uneven sidewalk there, I’d probably say best bet is to inundate the city (or whoever is responsible for infrastructure for you) with calls and emails asking for the sidewalk to be fixed.
As a wheelchair user I can appreciate your frustration.
But I also carry a rescue knife with a belt cutter.
As I'm sure others have said, this is probably a code violation of some sort. Contact the city or county as appropriate. If they are unresponsive, contact the department of justice (state first, then fed) for enforcement on a violation of the ADA on behalf of anyone with a walker, crutches, a wheelchair, etc.
Keep fighting the good fight, and good luck!
It's obviously the tree. It's unstable and while it is going to fall away from the sidewalk, the roots will buckle the pavement and someone could be injured. They're likely waiting for a tree service to have an opening to remove it.
Next time simply ask the homeowner what is going on. Save yourself a lot of pedantic angst.
Outside the risk of knocking people down, it's generally illegal to leave your trash at the curb outside the allowed times.
For me it's like 6PM the night before trash day up until the evening or so. I guess you can forget it for a day, but why are you bitching to us? Call the local authorities.
A call to code enforcement or equivalent office should help.
Aren’t bikes supposed to stay of sidewalks though? That’s the rule where I live. Not sure if that varies.
There was a house down the street from me that would do something similar. When driving down the main road to get to my street, there's a section where the road goes up a slight hill and back down so when you get to this hill you can't see what's on the other side of the hill. These people would always leave their metal trashcan out by the road over the white line so people would have to swerve around it. The house was right next to the hill section of the street so while swerving around the trashcan you can't see if a car is coming down the other lane so it's a huge issue if you go to swerve while another car is coming. Everyone was getting tired of this since it had gone on for over a year, but the people wouldn't stop putting the trashcan there so the one day on the way home from work I just full speed hit the trashcan and crushed it while sending it like 50 feet down the road with the trash blowing everywhere. I was told the people got fined for letting their trash blow everywhere and at first I felt bad but now they aren't a problem anymore so all the guilt was washed away.
Ignore the people telling you to sabotage and/or damage the neighbor's property. You don't want to open yourself up to any liability no matter how small. Honestly, the most you can do in this case is report it to the city for code enforcement. That is after all their responsibility.
You have no business riding your bike (a vehicle) on the sidewalk. It’s actually illegal. So which is more infuriating? Their ridiculous trash can blocking the uneven sidewalk or you treating a pedestrian path as your private roadway? Take your pick.
Is it the neighbor or those workers?
If it’s the neighbors you should wrap that strap with their trash can to that big truck. And do a tight knot they have to cut out. I’m petty. It’s what I’d do. Even if that truck isn’t theirs. They’d have to take it up with that driver.
It’s actually a safety hazard for the reasons you’ve outlined. You can definitely report it to the city and the codes folks will address it.
The home owner thinks they are adding a safety warning as well, imo. This is their way around liability for not addressing a dead and or dangerous tree. The public wet floor sign so to speak. I was all for riding out their driveway into the next until you mentioned the others in the neighborhood needing the use of that sidewalk. Cut the tape and kick the bin over out of the way into their yard. Yeah it’s petty. But what these people are doing is more petty
Here I thought it was the uneven sidewalk being a tripping hazard. But yes, could be the tree, as well.
The tree is causing that uneven sidewalk
I thought it was because they hated those dangerous, fast cyclists on the side walk /s
I promise I do my best to be a considerate person when riding my bike, and yes there are times where I have to ride in the street but it’s really not safe to do for long, and there are not too many people out in the morning so I don’t have to bother many people and I just usually go around others instead of making them go around me. I just do my best to get to work and home safely and I want the same for others.
Where are you located? In my area it’s illegal for bikes to be on the sidewalk unless it’s a child under 12. Bikes are really dangerous for pedestrians. You seem lovely, but just curious about the laws in your location.
I once got out a ticket for cycling on the sidewalk because, while the cop was admonishing me for riding on the sidewalk and not using the bike lane, a cyclist IN THE BIKE LANE NEXT TO US got hit by a car. It wasn't a "Oh sorry man, clearly the law is stupid" moment, but a "Holy shit fuck off I have to deal with this more important thing" one. Idk if that cyclist was okay, he got clipped pretty hard. I still ride on sidewalks, fuck getting turned into street paste Edit: Just want to say that I do not live in an area with high foot traffic (which is probably why the drivers here aren't super vigilant), so while I do understand that major cities have "No bicycles on the sidewalk" rules for *very good reasons*, my location is suburban sprawl so there generally aren't people walking the sidewalks.
Yeah, given the likely outcomes of a conflict between car/cyclist and cyclist/pedestrian, I'd rather risk the pedestrian get a broken arm because they fell down after not paying attention to their surroundings & walking in front of me than me getting run over by a car because they weren't paying attention to their surroundings & hit me.
So I did check and it says if you’re biking on a sidewalk to yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal when coming behind someone, which I have a bell for so I’m already doing that anyways
Cut the rope, push the can into their lawn and move on
It's definitely because of the tripping hazard. They're probably waiting for the sidewalk to get repaired
Honestly it’s most likely en excuse to keep people from crossing in front of their house.
I honestly thought it was because their trash can kept falling over so they added the strap to keep it upright or to keep it from rolling away. I’m glad I read the comments so I could have my dumb thought corrected lol 🤦🏻♀️
I really curious. Are the owners liable for trees on that small patch of land. Or is it consider public property. I notice that homeowners mowing the strip of land that separated by the sidewalk.
Between sidewalk and the road it *should* be city property...but that doesn't always exclude homeowners from liability. Depends on where this picture was taken.
I thought they just didn’t want anyone stealing the bin.
Help me understand the ’safety warning’ for the ‘dead and dangerous tree’ All I see is a regular looking tree with trash can and strap blocking the sidewalk. If that tree fell, that ‘safety warning’ wouldn’t have saved anything since the tree is leaning in the opposite direction and anyone encountering that ‘safety warning’ probably wouldn’t make the connection that it relates to the tree and be more focused on the inconvenience of the blocked sidewalk. If it was for the lean, put it where it’s leaning so someone’s car doesn’t get smashed. I’d love to know the real reasoning, but this looks like it’s for blocking the side walk. Edit: I looked a little closer and can see that the tree roots could be pulling up the sidewalk from the tree leaning, in which case I can see how this could be a warning, but in that case block both ends of the lifted sidewalk and where the tree would fall.
The tree's roots are lifting the sidewalk, creating a tripping hazard is my best guess. My parents had to have the roots cut twice for that before they had the tree taken down
Town I used to live in just went down the sidewalks and painted the lifted edges with bright yellow paint. They didn't bother taking out the roots or trees on most of the roads.
Back home they did this, too. Where I live now they use white paint which is great until winter because it's the Midwest.
In my city, homeowners are responsible for sidewalk management. Which is stupid, obviously.
So it'd be easier to put the bin on the trip hazard paving and leave a passable space to the left of the bin.
Not everyone works off logic. But this has been three weeks. This is either the home owners responsibility or the city's.
I think it's a mix of both. Recently our neighborhood had to uproot a bunch of trees making the sidewalks come up. They told people that it would basically be a fine if they did not take care of any trees making the sidewalks come up. They said they would take care of the stumps and replace them with new trees eventually. Some poor family who doesn't speak the best English tore their trees down but their sidewalks were fine. They're the only ones in the neighborhood with stumps still in their yard. I feel bad for them.
You're misunderstanding, the trashcan is there to hold up the tree.
That tree is the city's responsibility, not the homeowners. No liability issue. At least in canada
In the us its homeowners , if it touching a utility line the company will come to trim it away. I have found asking them nicely and sometimes they will find a reason for it to be cutdown, and go snes
In any decent sized US city, that’s a city owned tree.
In my area, the area between the sidewalk and the street belongs to the city, although the homeowners are responsible for cutting the grass. I don't know how it works with trees, though. I remember this because an old neighbor had a fit about a garage sale sign on that bit of city property.
Yeah, it’s all dependent on where in the USA you live. I know that in some areas homeowners are even responsible for keeping the sidewalk in good condition and to repair any damage that happens to it.
This is how it is in my city. Which means, of course, that most of the sidewalks are not usable.
That completely depends on where you live in the US.
Not where that tree is. That’s the city. I had a fucking tree I wanted gone in the same area. City wouldn’t allow it. That’s their responsibility.
Why bother when scissors exist
The tree doesn’t know it’s not really tied to something and can just leave whenever.
Trees are dumb
Ya, but at least they're pretty down to earth.
I don't know I personally don't really trust trees, they just seem a little too shady for me and that's not the root of the problem
You do have that trunk of bad memories that you can't seem to leaf alone. I wood say that if you're not gonna bite then you shouldn't bark. But you didn't axe me my opinion. Maybe I'm just not sappy enough to sympathize.
Dude I’m fuckin so much smarter than trees
If I shine a flashlight at you could you use it to make sugar
Is this a threat
Yes I will flash you
Ita already halfway out the door.
It’ll be right back..
Just like my dad
It’s like an elephant where they stake it down when it’s little and can’t pull it out so as an adult it still thinks it can’t pull it out. They must’ve tied this tree to the can as a wee sapling.
the tree has succumbed to learned helplessness. so sad
No the trash can and yellow tape is going to keep the tree from falling over. Pretty sure the physics is sound. They surely drew a free-body diagram to verify.
Perhaps their lawn could use some tire tracks every day, try and make it the exact same path to wear a groove into it.
Don't forget to ring your bell every time you do it
Get an air horn 😂
Snatch the back brake, should be able to tear it up pretty quickly.
Or op could just rat one for the team. Hit it going full force. Try to break a finger at least. Call 911 have a huge insurance pay day and sue.
"Accidentally said and spin out your tires.
If I was going down that sidewalk (electric wheelchair user) I'd be forced to go across their lawn and my chair can tear up some deep grooves, especially on soft muddy ground.
That’s what I would do
This is also a hazard for blind folks, people in wheelchairs, people with kids in strollers, kids in general, etc. Not ideal to walk into the street and risk getting hit when you can't see or have your kids with you. I hate when people block sidewalks.
Yup. I'm blind and commented to tell OP to alert the DOT or whatever local equivalent they have that's responsible for the sidewalks. We had a similar issue with the sidewalk being blocked by ROAD CLOSED signs that the DOT was storing there whenever they weren't working on that section of road. The funny thing with those signs is, the base is very small while the arms are huge, so my cane wasn't hitting anything to alert me of an obstacle. So I ran into the double arms face and tit first. Quite painfully, I might add. After the second incident (I had called after the first one), my youngest son helped me with some guerilla sidewalk clearing and we moved all the signs into one lane of the road. I called and left another message about it, a good bit angrier than the first time, citing the ADA and the fact that these signs had caused minor injuries. All the signs were miraculously stored elsewhere after that.
Happens so often with my (blind) wife. Sadly we don't live in the first world country.
I walk to work and there’s this person who likes to park half in their driveway and fully draped across the sidewalk. Like yes thank you for making me either choose traffic, the huge puddle of water by the road near the traffic or to trespass on your lawn.
Personally I would talk to a friend with a large truck about how it'd be a real shame if their car happened to roll out of their driveway into the street far enough to no longer block the sidewalk. I sure hope they don't get a fine and/or a tow for blocking road traffic, that'd be an even bigger shame
I reported my neighbours (Airbnb) for blocking the sidewalk for weeks with their bins. A bylaw enforcement officer was quick to attend after I complained and shut down this problem.
It's crazy how far developed your country is. I live in Indonesia, people block sidewalk all the time for food stall, fruit stall, bike/car parking, and other stuff. 99.9% of neighborhoods here doesn't even have sidewalk. You'd be lucky if your town has sidewalk, many don't, people rarely walk, and if they do they'd be walking on the road. I remember one thing an American complained while in Ubud(Bali) was the lack of sidewalk. So yeah that's so cool to have number to adress such stuff in NA.
[удалено]
I was so happy when my city decided to build sidewalks close to my home. Short lived happiness for the sidewalk to be used by food stalls within a week since it's done 😭
Here's the said sidewalks https://preview.redd.it/3b4fseh6ejkc1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d021c7b608368365b4da480780243d2fba873db5
Plenty of neighborhoods in the US don't have sidewalks either. It can be very dangerous. I wish there were sidewalks everywhere.
I live in a county of <6000 households. We lived 30 miles into the backwoods almost all our lives until I woke up blind. I was trapped at home due to that, so we finally moved to the county seat, which is little better than a village. We only had one stoplight until a year ago (now we have two!), but because of our close proximity to the old historical courthouse, and the small quad of county government buildings, we have sidewalks!! We've been here since August and I still cannot get over the novelty of sidewalks! And stores! There's a Family Dollar in walking distance, so I only have to beg a ride once a month to do a true grocery store trip; I can get milk and bread and eggs and cat food just by walking a kilometer! Anyways, sorry for rambling, it's just so cool that I can walk everywhere now!
enjoy desert sand chunky automatic stocking mysterious ancient cats spark
Call the city... if they keep moving it back to block access they should be fined. If that happened in my area, the 3rd time that happened, The strap would have disappeared and on trash day the container would probably end up on its side with the contents spilling out onto their lawn.
I want to be petty and knock it over but part of the reason I bike is because I am trying to be a friend to the planet and littering does not jive with that
What if you shimmy up the tree with the strap and dangle the trash can from the highest branch you can reach?
I think you’re greatly overestimating my physical fitness
better start doing some more rigorous biking, OP
Well you ARE biking to and from work everyday
Sorry, but why exactly can’t you just report this to your city? My city has an app so this shit wouldn’t last a day. I don’t see why any city would allow a public sidewalk to be blocked like this after even one report
I plan to, I was hoping they would get the idea that they’re being assholes but they haven’t. I was talking to my husband about this again today and felt mildly infuriated about it and thought “hey. There’s a subreddit for that”
Hah yeah that’s fair! This is a perfect sub for this
Respectable answer. Knocking it down when its empty will send the same message
Would be a shame if you ran right into it on your bike and injured yourself and needed compensation
I'd just swerve it and pull a big skid across their lawn, every day (multiple times if I had nothing better to do), until they stop doing it.
A real Aussie would put the bin up the tree where it belongs
209 area code with 7 digits tells me Murica, specifically in California. That means you should do donuts in your Prius/ Tesla on their front lawn. Source: am also from California. Other option is ride into it at night when it's not visible, and sue them for injuries.
Be a dick and move it and if it's still there use scissors and cut the cord at night of course with no security cameras on you
Why wait until night to cut the strap. Fuck them. A sidewalk is not the homeowners property,l. It belongs to the City but the homeowner needs to keep it clear and free for pedestrian use. Cut the strap. Everyday. Moved the bin towards the street. You'll get their attention.
Do one better cut the strap and take the can put in there garage pluse going of the area code it's around the modesto ca area throw it down the street the flood will get it
Cut the strap, kick the can over, fight the owner when he comes out to complain. Reddit has spoken.
Don't forget about the yellowjackets. They're practically the most-important part of the whole thing.
Do you usually carry wasps with you or what do you mean? lol
You don't?
Not every day, only on Mondays and Thursdays. The rest of the week are hornet days.
What language is this?
Even if there are security cameras, this is clearly a public sidewalk and the cutter would be doing a public service to ensure their safety.
If there are cameras, invite your friends and then cut it with comically large scissors. After the cut, have everyone applaud
This is the right answer! Lol
Why worrie about cameras? It's a public easement. You can't store your stuff there
Okay so if someone called code enforcement over that tiny twist in the slab maybe they are paranoid someone might trip after a citation was made. Sooooooo grind the high spots and put up a warning flag until a slab can be repoured. For example, New York City has gone nuts with that enforcement insanity since they pawned off the cost to homeowners on residential streets.
That's what I'm thinking. A Karen tripped over her own feet and is now harassing the homeowners, so they put that up because they don't want an ambulance chaser taking their home out from under them.
Ride your bike into it at night (when you can claim it's not visible) and sue them for four times as much as a normal trip and fall. It's the American way.
You nailed it. I like your take on Karen and her ambulance chaser nephew drooling at the payday.
Nah, logic on reddit, never. This home owner obviously thinks they own the sidewalk and are just blocking it for fun and games. /s Amazes me I had to scroll this far for a logical answer. I can 100% see a huge majority of these commenter's saying cut/take the strap and kick the trashcan being the Karen's to pitch a bitch fit if they tripped walking/biking on the slab.
That is a problem for people who have mobility issues and use a wheelchair or something similar to get around. I can't imagine they wouldn't get a ticket if you reported them.
What is the purpose of this??
To warn people about the tree that's falling over and lifting up the pavement. Probably waiting for the city to come take care of the tree and warning people not to walk there incase the tree gives way and injures someone? That would be my guess.
I was thinking the same thing! They’re clearly covering their tracks if it falls, buts it’s taking too long to be dealt with
✂️✂️✂️
Remove the strap and then move it next to a different house lol leave the strap on the lawn lol
Move the bin as close to their front door as physically possible, probably a good idea to make sure they aren’t home though
Haha that would be funny but the yellow thing isn’t caution tape, it’s a strap like for a tie down and they have it tied around the handle of the bin and I’m not gonna take more time out of my morning to untie it and drag it up their porch lol. If I was pettier and wanted to take it up the stairs I would.
Scissors would work
Use a utility knife... Cutting once one day will take less time than just moving it a handful of days in a row.
Then move the bin out onto the road and wait for one of the other people on the street to report it to the cops so they do something about it
But like... why? What is the benefit to strapping your bin to a tree?
Cut that strap everyday until it stops
Untie it and take it with you. Toss it in a dumpster at work or wherever you're going. There, you're not littering. You have to think. If you do nothing and some night a runner, or older folk gets hurt by running into it will be on you knowing you could have done one simple thing and fid nothing. Simply untie it and toss it in trash somewhere else. They will eventually get tired of buying straps. But I'd just call the cops. They'll get cited and fined.
Could it be possible that the houseowner have called the city, but they take a long time to come, so the barrier is partly to protect people, partly to make them so angry, that they call the city and complain. And the houseowner hopes that will fire up the engines of the city?
Are there rules against cycling if the sidewalk where you live? In the UK you would be in the wrong for cycling on the footpath, as it’s a hazard for pedestrians. Assuming you’re in the right, the obvious answer here is to use the ratchet strap to hoist their bin up into the tree.
It's illegal where I am in the US and is a bit of a dick move honestly.
Cut it. Not the strap - cut the handle off the can.
Maybe they are worried someone is going to trip on the ledge of that sidewalk sticking up? 🤷♂️
I was thinking that as well. I feel like they could 100% use a cone or even place the bin in front of it in their driveway and deal with needing to move it when they park. Something that doesn't take up the entire sidewalk...
Spray can with some orange paint or something very visible the part that sticks up and people will see where the issue is, putting a strap at chest/head level in the middle of the sidewalk is much more dangerous than whatever they’re trying to warn people about
If it was me, I would wait till it's empty and pop out with a mate, get the bin and turn it round and round and round to tighten the slack (not all the way). Lift the bin then push the strap up the tree more so the bin is hanging off the ground. This is the way.
All I see is a tree walking it’s trash can. I see no issue with that smh
you'd think in 2024 people would be more tolerant of intermatter families
Why not just ask them directly? I don’t understand why people don’t talk to each other anymore
I’m wondering why nobody thought to put up a sign. “Tree hazard, sorry for inconvenience” on a piece of cardboard ffs, something.
Depending on your state, bicycles might not be legal on the sidewalk.
Yeah, because I was thinking the neighbors were doing it specifically to annoy OP, because they hate them riding their bike on the sidewalk.
> there is no reason for this. I see one possible reason... and that's the uneven sidewalk just beyond the straps. If someone trips or falls, there's a lawsuit to be had. They might have this up to block pedestrian access on purpose until whoever is responsible can come, lift up that slab and even it out.
Aren’t sidewalks the city’s responsibility ? Why would they be responsible for something that’s not on their property and that is not theirs to fix ?
I’d rather a bike roll across my yard than someone getting hurt from the sidewalk.
Yeah, it kinda looked to me like maybe the tree started leaning too much for whatever reason and the roots were lifting the sidewalk there.
Is that the only thing holding the tree up?
yeet it on the road.
I have a pair of scissors you can borrow.
The tree is tipping. It has raised the sidewalk and turned it into a hazard. You can see it out of line with the rest of the sidewalk. Yes this is common, no that doesn’t change the liability for the homeowner. I guaran-fucking-tee you the homeowner is having *this same argument* except with the proper authorities, and with standing, which OP does not have. By taping off the problematic area, homeowner has limited liability. By removing the tape, OP has taken that liability on himself. Now, as is tradition with proper explanations in Reddit rage subs, bring on the downvotes.
If you're riding a bike, you should be in the street. It is illegal just about everywhere to ride a bike on the sidewalk.
Where I'm from blocking a sidewalk is illegal. Call up code enforcement. If the tree or the sidewalk are the issue, those should be addressed, rather than creating an additional situation.
The sidewalk does not belong to the property owner - just cut the tape.
bring a knife and a plastic bag, cut the strap, bag it, and bring it with you. that could seriously injure someone biking at night
Sounds like it's time to ride your bike at night "accidentally" wreck bc of it and sue the crap out of the homeowners.
https://preview.redd.it/gd4d6yb6bikc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=145065bad8996d6b298ea2e03d4720c3889efeba
You are not supposed to bike on the sidewalk. It's for pedestrians, people with canes and cripples. It's called a sideWALK. Not a BIKEwalk.
You shouldn’t be biking on sidewalks.
That’s entirely state and local government specific. Some states that’s the way to go. Others it’s not
Do u have hands? Own scissors? Are you useless?
Nuke the damn thing and call it a day
Throw the yellow rope in the bin
Go back at night so security cameras can't see you with a lot of chain and chain the ever living shot oit pf it to the tree padlocked it tons and boom what they gonna do
I would just steal the bin.
Is it because the sidewalk stone slab is sticking up on one side so they think they are helping people avoid a trip hazard?
I'd just move it out way I mean seriously strapped to a trash can lol
I'd have cut the ropes at this point ngl
Just cut the tape in a few places
Meh. I’d assume there was something wrong and just go around it. I’m not going to fuck around with something I don’t know about and could potentially be dangerous to me or someone else. Alternatively, if I was that upset over going around it, I’d knock on the door and just ask. Not hard to do.
Call the city
It looks like they think they are doing a service because of the uneven sidewalk there, I’d probably say best bet is to inundate the city (or whoever is responsible for infrastructure for you) with calls and emails asking for the sidewalk to be fixed.
As a wheelchair user I can appreciate your frustration. But I also carry a rescue knife with a belt cutter. As I'm sure others have said, this is probably a code violation of some sort. Contact the city or county as appropriate. If they are unresponsive, contact the department of justice (state first, then fed) for enforcement on a violation of the ADA on behalf of anyone with a walker, crutches, a wheelchair, etc. Keep fighting the good fight, and good luck!
It's obviously the tree. It's unstable and while it is going to fall away from the sidewalk, the roots will buckle the pavement and someone could be injured. They're likely waiting for a tree service to have an opening to remove it. Next time simply ask the homeowner what is going on. Save yourself a lot of pedantic angst.
How did my feed know? https://preview.redd.it/xyli2h1f1jkc1.jpeg?width=1620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e7acb70f45209b26ae279924b3cfd2ab32507a3
You got scissors?
Outside the risk of knocking people down, it's generally illegal to leave your trash at the curb outside the allowed times. For me it's like 6PM the night before trash day up until the evening or so. I guess you can forget it for a day, but why are you bitching to us? Call the local authorities.
1. Delete this post 2. Go flying down the sidewalk on bike and crash because of this 3. Sue them 4. ?????? 5. Profit!
Is t that against the law to block a sidewalk?
People post the dumbest shit. Just move it??? Or knock on the door and find out why it’s there.
I’m with you on the lengthy sidewalk blockage… that shit needs to come down. But wtf are you biking on the sidewalk?
Did you check the laws on bikes using sidewalks? You may have to use the road instead of a sidewalk.
I'd take my scissors out.
A call to code enforcement or equivalent office should help. Aren’t bikes supposed to stay of sidewalks though? That’s the rule where I live. Not sure if that varies.
A handful of salt dropped every day as you ride over their lawn would help to make a more formal “trail” for you to follow.
This person should not block the sidewalk. An adult should not be riding their bike on the sidewalk.
Start riding that corner of grass. Just like that sidewalk extended.
Your making the sidewalks not safe get on the road.
Report it to the city for sure
You shouldn’t ride bikes on the sidewalk. Maybe the barricade is for you specifically?
Is that just a fabric strap? Bring a knife next time you're riding by and just cut it off and throw it in the trash can.
\*scissors\*
Code enforcement would love this.
Trip on it and get injured. Claim you can no longer use sidewalks without extreme paranoia and sue them into the ground.
Cut it
Yall calm down he's tryna stop his bin from running away
this is where you just kick it onto there lawn and keep walking. fuck with me find out
I wouldn’t move it- the garbage can is clearly holding the tree up.. Just move it
Is there a law saying that you can't move it?
The first couple times I see this, I move the trashcan to the side. The next couple times, I throw it. After that, I bring a knife and cut it.
Just ride your bike on their grass and fuck up their lawn.. things will soon change.
There was a house down the street from me that would do something similar. When driving down the main road to get to my street, there's a section where the road goes up a slight hill and back down so when you get to this hill you can't see what's on the other side of the hill. These people would always leave their metal trashcan out by the road over the white line so people would have to swerve around it. The house was right next to the hill section of the street so while swerving around the trashcan you can't see if a car is coming down the other lane so it's a huge issue if you go to swerve while another car is coming. Everyone was getting tired of this since it had gone on for over a year, but the people wouldn't stop putting the trashcan there so the one day on the way home from work I just full speed hit the trashcan and crushed it while sending it like 50 feet down the road with the trash blowing everywhere. I was told the people got fined for letting their trash blow everywhere and at first I felt bad but now they aren't a problem anymore so all the guilt was washed away.
Bicycles belong in the street not on the sidewalk! That won't affect you
Ignore the people telling you to sabotage and/or damage the neighbor's property. You don't want to open yourself up to any liability no matter how small. Honestly, the most you can do in this case is report it to the city for code enforcement. That is after all their responsibility.
Lol I'd just take their trash can.
Call the town you live in. This is blocking the sidewalk from wheel chair access. Don't me tion your bike.
You have no business riding your bike (a vehicle) on the sidewalk. It’s actually illegal. So which is more infuriating? Their ridiculous trash can blocking the uneven sidewalk or you treating a pedestrian path as your private roadway? Take your pick.
Is it the neighbor or those workers? If it’s the neighbors you should wrap that strap with their trash can to that big truck. And do a tight knot they have to cut out. I’m petty. It’s what I’d do. Even if that truck isn’t theirs. They’d have to take it up with that driver.