I'd sell the damned house

[DocM]

CBS Boston....

Car Crashes Through Haverhill Home For The Fifth Time

HAVERHILL (CBS) ? If lightning doesn?t strike twice, Haverhill homeowner Jim Curtis has a hard time believing it. He was sitting at the computer in his Amesbury Street home when an SUV plowed through the front wall landing in the living room.

?When I heard the squealing tires, I got up and the car came through right in front of me,? said Curtis.

But since his family first owned the house in 1954, it?s happened at least five times. Another car came through the same wall fifteen years ago, and nearly every side of the house has been hit. In this case, police say a teenage driver was making a left turn at a busy intersection in front of jthe house when he lost control.

?He wanted to make sure I was OK and then said he never wanted to drive again,? says Curtis. The living room is now strewn with debris from couch to chair to splintered wood, and a television that was in front of the wall likely damaged. Fortunately the main beams on the antique home were not hit.

Curtis says the house sits at an intersection where cars accelerate and round the corner too fast, often squealing as they go. ?They just push the gas all the way down and take off,? he said.

While he acknowledges his unlucky location he has a solution and would like to petition the state to put a guardrail in front of his home. ?I?m feeling a little nervous standing right here,? he said.

Police say the driver has been cited for the accident, and while Curtis is frustrated, he?s more inconvenienced with the repairs that will have to be made.

[Gerowen]

I see homes like this all the time in the outside edge of sharp curves, and when I do see one I'm always wondering how many people have plowed into the house, or why somebody would put their house in a place like that.

Bad planning on the home-owners' part.

[Dot Matrix]

There was a house like this where I grew up. The owner stuck boulders along the the bend where the yard met the road. Never had a car come plowing through the house again. Unfortunately, those boulders are pretty scratched up. :laugh:

[|Rapture|]

I see homes like this all the time in the outside edge of sharp curves, and when I do see one I'm always wondering how many people have plowed into the house, or why somebody would put their house in a place like that.

Bad planning on the home-owners' part.

You realise the roads might not have always been there right?

There is a house that's practically right on the road not far from where I live here. It pre-dates the invention of cars.

[jakem1]

Bad planning on the home-owners' part.

Really? You're blaming the home owner for the fact that drivers are taking corners too quickly? If anything it sounds like some sort of barrier should have been erected a long time ago. Failing that/additionally, traffic calming measures should be implemented. I fail to see how a house that's been there since at least 1954 can be blamed.

I love the video in the article. "[it's happened] so often the home owner has nearly lost count", said Beth Germano. Five times and he's nearly lost count? She then goes on, "Practically every wall in this home has been hit..." Really? That seems geometrically impossible. Hyperbole FTW.

[remixedcat]

There was a house like this where I grew up. The owner stuck boulders along the the bend where the yard met the road. Never had a car come plowing through the house again. Unfortunately, those boulders are pretty scratched up. :laugh:

rather the boulders then teh house LOL. Good idea!

[FMH]

?He wanted to make sure I was OK and then said he never wanted to drive again,? says Curtis.

That's a nice teenager.

[articuno1au]

Yeah.

Mistakes happen all the time on the road.

At least he didn't run >.<

[Biotoxic_hazard_835]

In the city were I live there used to be this house at the end of a steep hill which had been hit about 9 times since I can remember, mostly by trucks that lost their brakes going down hill. Every time the owner did the repairs to the house only to see it hit again. He asked our city's public works to put a guard rail in front of the house to protect his family and property from further damage, but they denied his petition on the basis that it was not their fault that the accidents happened in the first place. He had to dish out almost $3000.00 to have a guard rail professionally installed. Everything went OK until about two years ago when a loaded concrete mixer came charging down hill hitting the guard rail and ripping it from it's place and then hitting the house almost destroying it completely, killing both the driver of the truck and one person inside the house. Sure enough they vacated the remains never to come back. What remained of the house was declared a public nuisance and was demolished in November.

[Kaemon]

Police say the driver has been cited for the accident, and while Curtis is frustrated, he?s more inconvenienced with the repairs that will have to be made.

Every person that hit my house, would be taken to court to pay for the repairs!

[Arachno 1D]

Every person that hit my house, would be taken to court to pay for the repairs!

No insurance no pay out unless you clain against your own.......

Boulders are good as are those interlocking type that are use as sea defenses [ topped off with spikes just to make sure :rolleyes: ]

[Kaemon]

[redacted]

[threetonesun]

I used to live on a corner, we had a stone wall out front, and people drove into it about once every four months. As a kid I remembered wondering how it was cars stayed on the road at all.