Blind turn/blind driveway caution solutions?

audiocontr · Post by **audiocontr** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:03 pm

I live on a slightly unusual situation where my driveway connects to the road at the base of a 30 foot hill. Its a country road and folks cannot see over this hill, yet they move at 50-60 mph.

As I'm pulling out onto the road. I can not see OVER the hill to see if traffics coming... See the issue? The pinz is terribly slow to accelerate and leads to serious potential for disaster. Ditches do not allow me to work out a "merge" lane but i do stay to the side of the road as much as possible.

I'm looking for a way to activate a flashing caution light at the top of the hill when I'm about to pull out. I can imagine a complicated IR sensor type of scenario but snow can cause that havoc. I'm wondering if anyone has seen a marketed solution out there?

stiffler4444 · Post by **stiffler4444** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:44 pm

I bet the speeders won't yield to your situation, but if it were me, I'd recommend placing a convex mirror on the opposite side of the road so that you can judge the oncoming traffic. Much simpler and gives you piece of mind. Maybe there is already a telephone pole over there or something you could attach to?

spandit · Post by **spandit** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:32 pm

Is the hill to the left or right of your drive?

If to the right, assuming you can see clear to the left, you could pull into the left hand lane to accelerate for a bit before pulling into the right hand lane?

edzz · Post by **edzz** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 5:09 pm

spandit wrote:Is the hill to the left or right of your drive?

If to the right, assuming you can see clear to the left, you could pull into the left hand lane to accelerate for a bit before pulling into the right hand lane?

Most country roads are two lanes, are you saying to drive in the oncoming lane?

I guess that would make sense if you normally drive on the wrong side of the road.

No wait it still doesn’t make sense.

spandit · Post by **spandit** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 5:13 pm

If the oncoming lane is clear then yes... it means you can turn into the driving lane (right hand in your mixed up country

) at speed thus avoiding being rear-ended by an F430

audiocontr · Post by **audiocontr** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:09 pm

I have to cross the danger zone to do such.... Thats what i do as well depending on the time of the day.

milesdzyn · Post by **milesdzyn** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 8:04 pm

Contact the government agency responsible for the roadways in your county and request that they put up a sign for you. I have seen them placed in rural areas for just this situation; they read "Caution Blind Drive Ahead", usually with a recommended speed reduction sign as well. That way when some idiot flies over the hill leaving skid marks on the road and in their shorts you'll have some legal standing.

One other option would be to install a video camera to see the traffic with a wireless transmitter and a receiver in your vehicles.

Miles

stiffler4444 · Post by **stiffler4444** » Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:19 am

signs are nice, but again, you are relying on the driver's responsibility for your safety....generally not observed.

Camera sounds cool, but I still go with the convex and two bolts..maybe too simple??

audiocontr · Post by **audiocontr** » Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:49 am

I'm curious how far you can see with one of the convex mirrors... May not be easy to see, since it would need to face to the left as I'm stopped (tough to see out and up on the passenger side.)