• @[email protected]
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    681 year ago

    Wish I hadn’t read this headline, it validates the anxiety I’ve had before about being confronted for turning around in a stranger’s driveway.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
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      721 year ago

      Dude, people get unreasonably pissy about that. I don’t know why. For instance, there are several houses around here with big “No U Turns In Driveway!” or similar signage to the same effect, which all have like 4 foot long driveways in locations where I can’t imagine anyone would be looking for a spot to turn around anyway.

      Motherfuckers must be paranoid. It’s got to be exhausting, being so spooked all the time.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        This is what happens when you have a libertarian rural populace. They believe that you entering their property is an invasion of their sanctity.

      • Admiral Patrick
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        301 year ago

        Devil’s avocado: People used to turn around in my driveway all the time at my old house. If they stayed on the pavement, that’d be one thing. But half of them cut into the grass, and it turned it into and stayed a rutted, muddy mess.

        Granted, I would never start taking pot shots at people turning, but I did put up a sign.

        • @[email protected]
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          271 year ago

          Thus the giant rocks I see on either side of the end of some driveways. Possible car damage seems to be a helpful deterrent to driving through the grass.

          • Admiral Patrick
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            61 year ago

            That works too. lol I just didn’t have any handy, and I thought cinder blocks would either look trashy or get stolen.

            • @[email protected]
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              1 year ago

              They only look trashy until they get stolen.

              Win/win? Lose/lose? That’s for you to decide.

            • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
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              51 year ago

              To prevent people from parking in front of and blocking my driveway, which happens often due to the location, I cast some traffic cones out of concrete and spaced them so parallel parking anything larger than a motorcycle is impossible but you can pull in between them nose first or in reverse. They weigh 180 pounds each, and look squishy… until you strike them with a vehicle.

              Watching morons clonk into them is hilarious. But they seldom do it twice.

          • @[email protected]
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            111 year ago

            I have big boulders for inflicting car damage if someone goes off the driveway.

            Otherwise I don’t care if someone turns around in my driveway.

      • @[email protected]
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        There is some legitimate reasons for it, but not likely to ever be the case. Larger vehicles may damage their driveway if it’s older or not as well built. So it works for their sedan, but an f-150 or a EV could irreparably damage it. People wouldn’t ever think of that, it’s like driving on their grass basically. Who does that?

        It’s their private property, they do have a right to protect from damage from people entering it, but not to death.

        • BarqsHasBite
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          261 year ago

          Lol if a F150 or EV damages your “driveway” it was never an actual driveway to begin with. As in, no it won’t damage a driveway. You’re thinking of a lawn.

            • BarqsHasBite
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              1 year ago

              Wear on road goes up by the fourth power. Do you have any idea what a fully loaded tractor trailer weighs? Consumer vehicles are not even a rounding error.

                • BarqsHasBite
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                  To, you know, build those houses you have those tractor trailers. And concrete trucks. In addition to transit buses, garbage trucks, moving and furniture trucks. Consumer vehicles are a rounding error.

            • @[email protected]
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              71 year ago

              Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety

              How does this even make him qualified to be making such statements? Furthermore, my residential neighborhood is full of 25 year old driveways and big ass trucks like F350 diesels and nobody has damaged driveways.

              • @[email protected]
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                You understand that some people cut corners and may not have the same quality of products yeah? That’s for them to decide, not you. Some people make their driveway out of paving stones FFS LMFAO.

                And some counties have different codes and standards, maybe where you live it’s 6” slabs and it’s fine, but lots of places are 3.5” driveways dude. And lots of places cut corners dropping it to even 3” or less. Without engineers verifying, it’s a crapshoot. And no one wants to pay for that for a resi driveway.

                Not everyone is going to have the same experiences as you lmfao.

        • @[email protected]
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          431 year ago

          Protect as in “put up a sign”, sure. But I can’t justify any amount of force to protect someone’s driveway.

          If your driveway is damaged by using it as a driveway, then it’s already too late and you need a new one. You have no control over what delivery people are driving, or any number or legitimate public service workers who might need to stop at your house.

          • @[email protected]
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            No delivery driver pulls up on driveways anywhere I have been, and you can request them not too as well. Lots will damage driveways due their weight (see below), so policy is to avoid for liability reasons.

            And same as above for public service workers as well, you can request stuff too.

            And that’s actually not true, lots of driveways aren’t able to handle EV weight, the standard 3.5-4” isn’t strong enough. It’ll damage very quickly. It’s not brought up enough to be honest.

            • Troy
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              111 year ago

              Everyone but Amazon pulls into my driveway. I share a double wide driveway with the neighbours and the deliver drivers love it. Only time it’s been an issue was when a ambulance parked there for someone across the street and we couldn’t exit. Woe is me – someone is literally dying and I had a minor inconvenience. All in all, pretty happy with it.

            • @[email protected]
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              Really? Our delivery drivers pull into the driveway all the time. Just had a FedEx truck in our driveway a few hours ago, in fact. Now that I think about it, Amazon trucks often stay at the street, but not always; my wife had to wait for one to leave the other day when she got home as Amazon was making a delivery.

            • @[email protected]
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              181 year ago

              EVs aren’t uniformly heavier than ice vehicles. Median weight is 2145kg vs 1768kg for ice. Your driveway should be able to hold around 8000 lbs, or 3600 kg. Basically the only ev you need to worry about is an electric Hummer.

              And, again, if you feel your driveway can’t be used as a driveway, it’s already broken. The point of the thing is for people to put cars on it.
              You’re welcome to put signs up on your own property for whatever you like, but you look silly getting upset for something like that.

              It’s like putting up a sign demanding that people don’t knock on your door because if they do it’ll fall off the hinges. It’s your right, but don’t be surprised if people don’t look for the sign, and maybe just get something that isn’t broken.

                • @[email protected]
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                  Weird, because “googling it” shows that every source says otherwise.

                  Maybe you should check your recollection before spouting off about stuff so confidently.

                  If 300kg makes that big a difference, your driveway is broken. Do you think your driveway is permanently damaged by something as extreme as “two cars” being parked on it?

      • tim-clark
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        51 year ago

        I have one of those signs along with beware of dogs. Living in the country there has been a ton of theft here, stopped once i got 2 dogs. People were pulling in grabbing stuff often the first few years here. Other issue is I have a narrow driveway and road, it a pain to back out and not go in the ditch or hit the mailbox. 500ft down the road is a turn around for the school bus, they can turn around there.

        Side note, due to the unruly angry people that live in the country. Was taught as a kid to not use people’s driveways for turning around, don’t want to get shot.

          • tim-clark
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            11 year ago

            I’m American, grew up being aware of the nuts with guns that live thier life in fear. Have had guns in my face so many times, it’s no fear but frustration with theft. Living in the country you get shot at often for no reason

        • @[email protected]
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          61 year ago

          If someone is using a driveway to turn around, I’d put money on them being lost and not knowing about the bus turn around farther down the road.

  • @[email protected]
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    1291 year ago

    Having a gun for self defense fucks with your head. When my wife and I lived in a relatively rural area, I used to keep a shotgun under our bed for protection, but I eventually got rid of it. Never shot it a single time, but you’d better believe every time I cleaned it or moved it or just remembered I had it, I was imagining the horrible situation I might be forced to use it in. That shit low key fucked me up. Strange sound in the middle of the night? Better grab the gun.

    I can’t even begin to imagine carrying one on me, especially in public. I like to think I have a pretty level head, but some people are just waiting for you to look at them the wrong way so they finally have that moment. So frightened or psychotic or some combination of the two that their first instinct is to just start shooting. Hell, my wife’s cousin-in-law got in a fucking shootout when he cut someone off in traffic.

    Used to be very pro responsible gun ownership, but lately I’m thinking that level of responsibility is far too rare in people.

    • @[email protected]
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      271 year ago

      I want some sort of driving test for guns. If you fail it, no guns for you. Have to retake it every 5-10 years and it’s pretty easy to pass if you aren’t a moron.

      I’ve seen literally the dumbest shit on ranges. People flagging one another. Accidental discharges a few feet from one’s foot, flagrantly breaking the range rules while the range instructor literally just finished explaining the rules to everyone there.

      Christ, one time (in a rural state) someone didn’t want to give up their CC to run a combat-style range. It was for safety, in case they ate shit on the course. They said they needed their CC in case there was a “terrorist attack”. I looked around the bumfuck, empty desert we were in and wondered where the terrorists would even come from, lmao.

      • @[email protected]
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        51 year ago

        I want some sort of driving test for guns. If you fail it, no guns for you. Have to retake it every 5-10 years and it’s pretty easy to pass if you aren’t a moron.

        So basically a CCW permit for carrying. Problem though with “uneducated or undereducated people shouldn’t have guns,” while I agree in principle, is that it’ll play out affecting poor and marginalized communities which are mostly POC more than say some white people who simply had more privileges growing up.

        Again, in principle I agree, I just don’t trust our legal system not to turn it into racism like they do with everything else.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          I agree with you on everything except that that’s what a CCW permit is. I’m sure in some states it’s that. In other states it’s closer to the test you take to get your temporary drivers permit as a kid.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            It does depend on the state, and in some there’s even no permit, but in most that have them they do instruct about basic safety and use of force laws. That is however relegated to the state to form their own policy, and changes all the time. If you feel your state should do more it’s easier to work on that then federal, so it’s probably more effective this way tbh.

            Honestly there isn’t much to gun safety, either, it isn’t actually all that hard and doesn’t really take too long to learn. The hard part is making sure people adhere to it at all times, which tbh is functionally impossible beyond “if you see someone being unsafe, say something” which is common to do amongst gun owners, but doesn’t prevent everything. Accidents can happen at any experience level, it’s also a common saying amongst experienced gun handlers/owners that “complacency kills,” and it does, it’s something you have to be ever thoughtful of while handling one (not always while carrying, I mean, but while it is out of the holster for any reason. Be it defense, range unloading/cleaning, leaving it in the car because of a no gun sign, etc.)

            Also, just as a sidenote, something you can test for yourself: Go to any pro gun forum, say r/firearms or whatever, or c/leftistgunowners here, any one, and make a post saying something along the lines of “Hey I’ve decided it’s time to pick up my first gun, any advice?” I guarantee you many posts will say “welcome to the club,” many more will say “buy you a glock” and almost all of them will say “but it isn’t enough just to get it and put it under your bed, learn how to be safe and learn how to use it at the range. Last thing you want is to kill someone innocent or die fumbling with it because you never learned how.” It isn’t a legal requirement, and of course you could just waltz into a gunshop and avoid most of that, though they will also offer advice most often if they know it’s your first, but at least the culture at large generally is pretty safety conscious already without it being mandated, so at least that’s something.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          Then the government should fund independent organizations that are committed to responsible gun ownership in marginalized communities.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            I’m absolutely not opposed to that, but it hasn’t even been proposed by any politicians I’m aware of.

      • @[email protected]
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        171 year ago

        Hard agree on the gun safety test. Buying a gun, especially in the US, is way too easy and the number of people walking around strapped with absolutely no knowledge of gun safety, let alone armed self defense training, is terrifying.

        My wife’s family leans very hard into the guns, god and Trump right wing. My father in law set up a shooting range on his property, and it’s a tradition for the cousins to get together and show off their arsenal. I keep a pistol there because it’s a hellava range gun and the 22LR rounds are dirt cheap, but you can imagine the shit I catch in a family where 9mm is considered a “pussy round”.

        The amount of stupid shit I’ve seen on this range would boggle your mind, and I feel a deep responsibility to make sure nobody dies while I’m there. I’ve seen people walk in front of the range with earmuffs on while someone was getting ready to shoot. I had to stop my father in law from breaking his thumb trying to shoot a Glock with his thumb resting right on the slide. I watched my uncle-in-law (a Republican state senator, mind you) hand a loaded AR-15 to his ten year old son, then just walk away.

        • @[email protected]
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          51 year ago

          You know I think that’s actually the intelligence and responsibility I expect from republican state senators. I bet he screams about how responsible gun owners shouldn’t be prevented from ownership just because of irresponsible gun owners

    • @[email protected]
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      41 year ago

      Don’t make the classic mistake of thinking everyone is limited to your abilities, there are other people in this world with their own thoughts and feelings that may not line up with yours and projecting your thoughts onto them is simply not a good basis for anything.

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        I don’t give a shit how good people think they are with guns. They should have to prove they know what they’re doing to own one.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          Well with the second amendment being interpreted as it is by the supreme court, that doesn’t seem like it could currently stand unfortunately. We do however require it for concealed carry permits in most states though, so at least that is something. We could also normalize gun shops give a basic multiple choice test before sales even without mandating it legally, as shops have the right to refuse sale to anyone if they seem sketchy (and often do refuse sales, but not often enough.)

          Frankly I go a step further, we should make actors who don’t own guns but use real guns as props in movies should also be subject to learn at least Cooper’s 4 rules, like they do at most indoor shooting ranges on your first visit.

    • Sippy Cup
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      351 year ago

      It’s the Jacky Chan effect.

      When I was a kid this guy released a movie like every week. And every time we’d go to a Jacky Chan movie, I’d walk out of that theater thinking I was the king of fuck mountain, that somebody aught to just TRY and fuck with me.

      I was not the only one. I don’t know who it was, but I saw a comedian on comedy Central echo that exact same feeling, which seemed to resonate with the audience, so I know it’s not unique. You feel powerful just being in the presence of such a thing.

      There’s a whole book series about the presence of powerful things being a corrupting presence. They’re pretty good. Turned in to movies and everything.

    • @[email protected]
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      341 year ago

      I am the same person as you except I actually carried around my gun. Being an stupid 21 year old with a gun sounds so stupid back then. I’m glad nobody died because of me.

    • @[email protected]
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      51 year ago

      I have an airsoft gun and it’s only after I shot my wife in the ass that I considered the considerable weight of responsibility that such a weapon imposes on a man.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      Yeah, that’s how prison works. Most people consider it a small price to pay to keep murderers off the streets.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        Like good healthcare. Even good prison food is cheaper due to economies of scale.

        We could feed way more homeless with some properly consolidated soup kitchens attached to gov bed-spaces.

      • @[email protected]
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        Is the government able to take possession of his house/land and personal property, sell it and use that to help fund his incarceration? Is that a thing?

        Before I get downvoted to oblivion, I’m not saying they SHOULD. I’m just asking if that’s something they do. Maybe I should have worded it better.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          His assets will be sold off to pay the victims family and to cover the trauma the other passengers received from the crime.

        • Admiral Patrick
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          Is the government able to take possession of his house/land and personal property, sell it and use that to help fund his incarceration? Is that a thing?

          Yeah, a gateway to even more corruption. We already have Civil Asset Forfeiture, and it’s abused exactly how you think it would be. In all but a few cases, the money goes to law enforcement (local or otherwise). It’s basically legalized theft, though some states have higher thresholds than others.

          Emphases mine:

          In the United States, civil forfeiture (also called civil asset forfeiture or civil judicial forfeiture)[1] is a process in which law enforcement officers take assets from people who are suspected of involvement with crime or illegal activity without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing.

        • @[email protected]
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          I don’t know the rules in USA but I’d assume only in case of debt they are not able to pay after some time (years, likely). This could be fines or legal fees

    • @[email protected]
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      And he gets to sit in a shitty box surrounded by other murderers for the short remainder of his pathetic life. I’m fine with that

        • digdug
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          31 year ago

          It’s probably closer to a strawman or false dichotomy, than it is projection.

          Though, providing basic needs to prisoners seems like a relatively small price to pay to keep them off the streets and hopefully deter other crime.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            It’s absolutely a false dichotomy, but when they suggested I must want the other half of the dichotomy, that is projection.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        Release all the inmates that are there on nonviolent drug crimes, so the cost of prisons goes way down?

        But that’s too hard of course.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          Ok. What does that have to do with this murder case?

          Edit: Since you’re so fond of identifying things (even though you have yet to get one right) your answer there was a non sequitur.

          • @[email protected]
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            31 year ago

            25 year sentences would not even be considered if rehabilitation was the intention. It is a sign of a sick system when we applaud 25 year sentences. The guy is not going to get better help for his mental illness after year 24 than he will get in the first year.

              • @[email protected]
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                11 year ago

                Why is this thread so full of projection? Why do the people here find it so hard to accept that our prison system is broken?

                • @[email protected]
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                  You really don’t know what that word means, but dagnabbit you’re not going to let that stop you from using it.

                  I’ll make it simple. What do you think is an appropriate response to 2nd degree murder?

          • @[email protected]OP
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            Absolutely nothing, but I get the impression they think it’s a compelling point.

        • @[email protected]
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          51 year ago

          Taxes get spent on all sorts of stuff you don’t want or need - that’s the purpose of tax, so the country can spend money on things it needs but individuals don’t necessarily want. You might as well complain about tax being spent to build roads you’re never going to drive on, or social services you don’t partake in. It’s all the same pool of money.

      • @[email protected]
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        161 year ago

        I’ve known a lot of gun nuts and none of them were psychopathic, no matter their politics. This guy isn’t a gun nut, he’s a monster.

      • Thassodar
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        601 year ago

        I was literally thinking about this case when turning around in someone’s driveway this week. Great precedent for conservatives who believe minorities are around every corner trying to take their homes.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          While shooting someone for turning around in your driveway is absolutely ridiculous, I’d also say turning around in some rando’s driveway to be on the rude side.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            It’s turning around, not seeing the end of the driveway. Only uses the public part of the driveway anyway. Get your head out of your ass.

          • @[email protected]
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            381 year ago

            It happens all the time and only takes 5 seconds tops. It has probably happened to you multiple times and you never noticed.

            • @[email protected]
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              1 year ago

              I also have a downslope driveway that ices up in the winter, and have had someone hit my car and take off doing it, so yeah I’d rather they didn’t. I also respect people’s private property.

              • @[email protected]
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                191 year ago

                I also respect people’s private property.

                That’s about the most asinine way you possibly could have ended that sentence. You almost had my sympathy for why you feel the way you do until said that.

                • @[email protected]
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                  21 year ago

                  I respect people. If a person I respect has property, by the transitive property, the property gets a sort of respect.

              • @[email protected]
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                261 year ago

                Things might be different in the US, but here in NZ the first meter or two off the road is usually road reserve, which is council property. That’s where footpaths/sidewalks, street trees, and utilities are run.

                The bit of your driveway that is actually yours doesn’t start until about where your front fence is, if you have one.

                • @[email protected]
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                  141 year ago

                  Nope - absolutely the same here. There’s typically a stretch of property facing the street and potentially in an adjacent alley where the homeowner is responsible for basic maintenance (mowing the grass) but it’s used for utility access and may be taken off they decide to widen the roads. I’m sure exceptions exist, but less commonly.

                • @[email protected]
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                  Arguably your driveway, front walk, and front step/porch is s there expressly for other people to use. Sure, wandering around the front yard of someone you don’t know is rude/disrespectful, as is hitting their car, but you’re providing a well defined way for anyone to approach your house, so really can’t object to them using it

  • @[email protected]
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    171 year ago

    Yeah, it’s stuff like this that’s made me afraid to pull into driveways to turn around. I’m afraid to even pull up and stop next to a house in a neighborhood I don’t know. There have been so many stories like this going around lately.

    • @[email protected]
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      391 year ago

      Funnily enough, I believe him.

      This is what a steady diet of Fox News does to a motherfucker. This is exactly why Americans are so obsessed with guns, it’s why they pour so much money into their military, and it’s why 9/11 fundamentally reshaped their culture. They’re terrified of everything and anything around them, all the God damn time. They have to be armed, they have to be the biggest military power on the planet, and God forbid anyone remind them that none of that does them any good. America is a culture entirely driven by fear.

      Fear doesn’t excuse what he did. You don’t get to murder defenceless people just because you’re afraid. He chose to own a lethal weapon and he chose to make using that weapon his first reaction to something that frightened him, instead taking even a few seconds to assess the situation. That’s 100% on him, and deserves every single year of that sentence and more.

      • nifty
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        America is a culture entirely driven by fear.

        Some politicians would find themselves unelectable if they didn’t have a platform of fear and othering to depend on for their continued access to power.

        • @[email protected]
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          111 year ago

          As someone who doesn’t own guns. This photo always makes me cringe.

          All I see is poor trigger discipline, poor muzzle control, and two dumb fucks. It’s amazing that they didn’t “accidental” start blasting.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 year ago

      Are you sarcastically implying there’s no way someone would fear for their life in that situation, and then in the next sentence that the shooter is an easily frightened person who might’ve feared for their life?

      • @[email protected]
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        401 year ago

        If you have the paranoid delusion that a car turning around in your driveway is a threat, you are a serious risk to the public.

      • @[email protected]
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        “I feared for my life!” Is a direct quote I’ve heard more than a couple times from big burly manly Texas men I’ve worked with. I’d bet $20 this guy used to talk the same trash. They’ll claim that if they ever have to kill somebody, they’ll say that to the cops / judge and get set free for having fired in self-defense. I keep my thoughts to myself.

        Except with y’all!

        It sounds to me that these guys want everybody to think they’re super tough, but their pre-planned defense is to claim cowardice as a virtue, and they’ll tell you so ahead of time. It baffles me that they fail to feel shame for it, but I believe them when they proudly declare what cowards they are.

        And yeah, that dude was an angry coward who wanted to lash out at the first person who dared cross an imaginary line in his head. There’s no reason to be afraid when a couple cars come down your driveway. But they’ve let themselves get whipped into a bloodthirsty frenzy over imaginary terrors. Fear is a central facet of their personalities.