I cannot think of a single other instance where something can be set up where if you don’t follow a rule while operating a vehicle, that actual damage to your property.
If illegally parked, sure, your car can be towed or booted, but not pushed down a hill out of the illegal parking space and into a wall.
If I’m missing something, someone please set me straight 
How about speed bumps? Those can cause damage if you don’t play by the intended rules, too.
How is what legal? Are you talking about those leaning spikes that will impale your tire if you exit the wrong way from a pay-to-park lot?
Kinda related; I know that if a fire truck damages your car pushing it out of the way when illegally parked and in the way, it’s tough luck for you.
Same if you’re blocking traffic on a ramp or traffic lane.
I suspect that driving over those spikes would be considered a willful act on your part.
You didn’t actually do such a thing, did you? :dubious:
Peace,
mangeorge
How about a fence. The rule would be “Don’t drive through this.” If you violate that rule, your vehicle may suffer significant damage.
May I offer an anecdote, which while not answering your question, may serve to illustrate your point?
(First, forgive me if this is not relevant, or constitutes a hi-jack, I am a newb here and am still learning the rules).
A long time ago, I drove 18-wheelers long-haul.
The Union 76 truckstop in Ontario, California was a haven for prostitutes, drug-dealers and parking lot muggers.
It was raided, deemed a nuisance and the management informed to clean it up or else.
They put a razor-wire topped concrete wall around the entire parking lot. (You had to buy fuel to get in). They had one of those “severe tire damage” apparatuses at the exit. They were retractable spikes that could only be crossed in one direction.
It was marked with a small sign. I witnessed a driver try to enter, there were several loud “booms”, and 8 of his tires were damaged beyond repair. I spoke with the driver, who had spoken to the manager, and he was SOL and had lost his job.
Is it legal? I think it might possibly be fought in small claims court.
Just like those gas pumps that have signs saying “Not responsible for fuel spills if automatic shut-off fails” Or those dump trucks that have signs saying “Keep 200 feet back! Not responsible for damage from flying debris”
Just because they post a sign does not make them free of responsibility. I know of several cases where people have gone to court and won.
Well, they don’t damage your car, you do. All those big signs that say SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE are intended to warn you that if you attempt to exit the wrong way, your car will be damaged. It’s not at all like someone else pushing your car down a hill out of an illegal parking spot. If they say “You can’t exit this way and if you try to your car will be damaged,” and you still try to, and your car is damaged, how is that their fault instead of yours?
Yes, but the purpose of a fence is not to cause damage to your property- the tire damage deals are there specifically to ruin your tires, making you buy new ones, if you hit one. They are not there for any other reason except to “punish” violators.
I haven’t run afoul of one- I’ve only encountered one in my life- but what if you don’t know about these, and don’t see the sign, or it doesn’t register in your head? 500 bucks for four new tires for a mistake (if the flattening sound of the first two doesn’t register )
I mean, what if you’re stuck in a long line, have an emergency and the only way out is to back over one? Most other places call the cops if you violate the parking rules or whatever.
Yes.
It depends on the size of the sign and the reasonableness of the warning. You’re right; you can’t disavow all liability just by saying the magic words “NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR”, and a sign that is so little, unclear, or hidden that it conveys no warning is useless. But if you have given a clear and fair warning that if the sign reader persists in the action warned against, damage will result, then you probably are okay.
Don’t know about them – they should be prominently and obviously signed “WARNING”. Doesn’t register in your head – that’s your fault and your problem. Emergeny requires you to back over them – again, your fault and your problem. You’re not entitled to instantaneous exit from a parking lot.
Find a piece of wood to put over the spikes to hold them down and proceed.
The military base where my husband works has these things so that you can’t go in through the exit lane. I assume they would be pretty effective at disabling a vehicle trying to avoid security.
Fences are constructed for one of two reasons (or both), to keep things out or to keep things in.
The keep things out fence damage deals are there specifically to ruin your paint, body or bumpers, making you buy new ones, if you hit one.
In my mind, these are different because the purpose of a speed bump is not to punish or cause damage, it is to keep traffic slow in a high pedestrian area, usually. The idea that a comapny can ruin your tires for trying to sneak out without paying boggles my mind- Can a Pizza Hut employee have you arrested if you dine and dash? Sure. Can they douse you in tomato sauce, ruining your clothes? No.
I guess my answer to this would be, if you run over a locked fence, more than likely it is on purpose, not an accident. I can definitely see a person with no illegal intent accidentally backing over the tire spikes.
Poor analogy, but to me that’s a like a parking lot with no overnite parking being able to bash in your windshield if you overnite park. They can’t- they would just have you towed, or call the cops, with no actual property damage.
Here ya go, Wee Bairn.
Get yourself a couple of these and you’ll be set.
I wonder if you could actually be charged (ticketed?) for using these to exit?
What happens if the unfortunate driver does not speak English?
I know that New Jersey offers its driver exam in many languages: My wife took it in Portuguese many years ago when her English wouldn’t have been sufficient to understand a warning about spikes. IIRC, all that was expected of her was that she be able to understand a fixed set of English signs (e.g. STOP).
My point is that the fact that drivers exams are given in languages other than English seems to indicate that it is quite legal to drive without speaking English, so how is the person going to be held responsible for understanding such a sign?
And even if licensing requirements do require basic English, what about a German or Chinese citizen driving with an international license on vacation here?
For anyone not familiar with the device.
For that matter, if I rigged my house with booby-traps, and a burglar broke in and suffered from one of them, I wouldn’t be off the hook even if I had signs up saying “house protected by booby-traps”, would I? The situation seems to be exactly analogous.
I do not agree. Those spikes serve the same purpose as the fence. It prevents you from exiting that way. It just happens that they allow drivers to come in also. When you see the spikes, don’t think spikes, think fence.