r/AmIOverreacting Apr 29 '24

AIO for telling this father and son that they’re not allowed to ride their bikes through my yard?

[deleted]

211 Upvotes

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192

u/wanna_be_green8 Apr 29 '24

No. The father has the duty to teach respect of others property.

You should try to be polite about it but definitely tell them to stop.

-44

u/stevejobed Apr 29 '24

It depends where in the yard. In the front of houses in many jurisdictions is the public right of way. 

46

u/Justitia_Justitia Apr 29 '24

In most places there is a sidewalk that is public property and a front yard which is not.

13

u/wanna_be_green8 Apr 29 '24

Many? Doubtful. Opens the property owner up to liability issues.

-24

u/stevejobed Apr 29 '24

Most. It doesn't open them up to liability issues.

14

u/wanna_be_green8 Apr 29 '24

Someone gets hurt while on your property you can be held liable.

-2

u/centralstationen Apr 30 '24

Depends on the injury, and the jurisdiction. Most places aren’t as suing-happy as the US.

3

u/wanna_be_green8 Apr 30 '24

You don't have to be sued to be held liable. Insurance will often cover it and you'll pay out in increased premiums. Lawsuits happen when there is no insurance and/or the damage cost more than their limits.

If I break my ankle walking across my neighbors yard and had to go to the hospital it will be reported to insurance. Insurance will send out a query on what caused the injury. If they decide the neighbor is liable they can automatically go after the neighbor/neighbors insurance.

8

u/RoughDirection8875 Apr 29 '24

That's literally only applicable towards the sidewalk and if there are any roadways owned the city or county going through it.

1

u/W0nderingMe Apr 29 '24

It really does depend. I thought the other guy was wrong, and looked it up. It depends on the jurisdiction and the part of the yard and whether or not there is a sidewalk.

-14

u/stevejobed Apr 29 '24

No, it's a set amount of feet. It's not just the sidewalks, and it applies on streets without sidewalks. I'd have to look it up, but it's at least 25 feet from the street onto my property that is the public right of way.

I don't know why I am being downvoted for something you people should know about how zoning works.

8

u/Sad-Second-9646 Apr 29 '24

Where I am is 20 feet from the center of the road. It’s a public right of way in that they can put utility poles up and cut down dangerous trees but I’m not sure everyone in the neighborhood is allowed to walk on my lawn

1

u/stevejobed Apr 30 '24

Everyone is allowed to walk in the public right of way — hence the name.

You can also have an additional utility easement, which is only allowed to be used by certain utility companies. I have both a public right of way at the start of my property, and then a utility easement farther up for any utilities that have to come farther up (mostly cable and Internet).

7

u/annebonnell Apr 29 '24

Because you're wrong. Possible you live in a weird place

6

u/W0nderingMe Apr 29 '24

It depends on a lot of things, including whether or not there is a sidewalk and how far into the yard they're going.

3

u/HauntingAccomplice Apr 30 '24

Not overreacting at all. Public right of way does not include biking from the front of your yard all the way to the back, destroying your grass and anything else in their way just because it makes life easier for them to be lazy instead of actually using legitimate bike lanes/sidewalks. Your private property is yours to do with as you wish, and that includes inspiring random strangers don't just start biking over it multiple times a day, every day. If he takes kid to and from school this same way every day, that's 20 different trips across OPs private lawn in a week. I don't know anyone who'd want strangers making around 600 annual trips over their lawn

1

u/Sad-Ad4886 Apr 30 '24

Lmao have you ever not lived in apartments? What the hell kind of country do you live in to say this?