There are many much more sinister abbreviations in this world, but just agree – when we hear the letters ‘HOA,’ just a slight chill runs through the skin, and the heart skips a beat in anticipation: yes, yet another Homeowner Association story, and this means entitled neigbors, unfair bylaws… in general, everything is as we like.
And even though in today’s tale, initially told by the user u/RagglezFragglez, the main antagonist is not so much the HOA as a random neighbor, you can still feel free to read it, because it’s really worth it, just believe me!
More info: Reddit
The author of the story lives in a house which belongs to the Homeowner Association (HOA), and there are many hand-made anti-speeding signs there
Image credits: Amanda Slater (not the actual photo)
The author, however, swears that they never speed while driving in the neighborhood, so these ‘passive-aggressive’ signs just annoy them
Image credits: RagglezFragglez
Image credits: Michael Tuszynski (not the actual photo)
Recently the author was driving around at 20mph and some neighbor started making a ‘slow down’ hand sign to them – but to no avail
Image credits: RagglezFragglez
So the author just started passing by this guy’s house in first gear with 5-6k rpm, which was damn loud and even more obnoxious
So, the Original Poster (OP) lives in a house which belongs to their local HOA. “Unfortunately,” as the author themselves note, and I think we all understand perfectly why. After all, there are plenty of stories in which HOAs designed to make people’s lives easier in fact do exactly the opposite.
And the author also doesn’t like that almost all the neighbors have gotten into the habit of putting up all these passive-aggressive signs like “Slow down, this is a neighborhood, not a race track” and “Drive like your children live here.” They actually don’t like it for at least two reasons.
The first reason is that these signs are often installed by people who do not have any kids at all. Reason two, the original poster never speeds in the neighborhood anyway and, in their own words, “drives like a grandma.” So much so that they are often overtaken by local cyclists.
So one fine day the OP was driving at about 20mph, and one of the neighbors also started making that passive aggressive ‘Slow down!’ hand sign. The author did not stop, which probably infuriated the neighbor.
However, later the original poster came up with an even more unconventional – and annoying – action: they drove past their house in first gear, increasing the engine speed to about 5-6k. Which, as you can imagine, is much louder and way more obnoxious. The neighbor heard it and was damn angry, but he could not do anything. Everything was strictly within the rules…
Apparently, the neighbor did go to complain to the HOA – but the response was even more unexpected for him. The HOA recently put up an official 25mph sign, so now the original poster is even more pleased to see the face of the self-proclaimed guardian of traffic as they drive by.
Image credits: Garvin St. Villier (not the actual photo)
Well, in fact, the neighbors’ fears do have some real basis – after all, despite the fact that the residential speed limit in most states, as this study by MIT shows, does not exceed 30mph, many drivers really neglect this rule.
How helpful are the signs? Not really, in fact. “Many studies have concluded that a driver’s speed is influenced by the existing conditions of a roadway, not the posted speed limit. As a result, changes in posted speed limits have little to no effect on vehicle speeds,” says, for example, this municipal brochure issued by the Citrus Heights city in California.
The same applies to various signs indicating the presence of children. “‘Children at Play’ signs have little or no effect on the behavior of motorists and there have been no indications these signs reduce pedestrian-involved collisions,” note the authors of the brochure we have already cited above.
“Since drivers tend to pay little attention to these signs, parents and children may feel a false sense of security. For this reason, the signs have been removed from both the federal and state list of approved traffic control signs and are not eligible for installation on roadways.” So all that remains is to rely on the responsibility of the drivers themselves. And, of course, to be active reporters as well.
As for the reaction of commenters to the original post, the majority are simply sure that the main issue here is not so much about speeding (especially since the author swears that they have never done this), but about the personal relationship between neighbors. “This sounds like you need to have a conversation with your neighbor,” one of the people wrote. “The finger between your index and ring is there for a reason,” another responder was way more categorical.
And, of course, how can we do without a good dose of criticism towards the HOA? “Gotta love HOAs. In principle, they are meant to build a healthy, wholesome community. In practice, people use them as weapons against their neighbors,” some of the folks in the comments added. So do you, our dear readers, agree with this point of view? Please let us know in the comments below the post.
People in the comments mostly claimed that this was more about their personal attitude towards this neighbor, and slammed all the HOAs by tradition as well
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
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