Question Regarding Liability for a Dangerous Situation Contributing to Loss of Real Estate Value

Avinator72

New Member
Jurisdiction
Georgia
Hello All,

I would appreciate it you could advise me on a course of action available to me to resolve the situation I am in.

Here is the background. We live in a subdivision that is built in a hilly area. Some of the streets are fairly steep and people drive like maniacs. Often going 15 to 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. Normally, you have a handful of nuts that might speed in a neighborhood but in our case it is the majority that do. We live on the main road in the subdivision that is a very steep one. People are constantly flying up and down the street. I have called the county police and they will not do anything to stop the speeding. We have no city police, so nothing can be done there. I have looked up the county laws and apparently the street is too steep for speed bumps and there is not a long enough straight section of the road for the police to monitor speed. So basically the Gwinnett County government has washed its hands of the issue and won't do anything to help. We tried to sell our house and get out but that did not work well. The potential buyers that came to look at the house nearly getting run over by nut cases flying up and down the street did not help in selling the home. Also, anyone with children were immediately turned off due to that same dangerous situation. Lastly, we weren't going to give away the house since we have made it into a very nice home that should bring a premium price. Additionally, there have been others on the street that have tried to sell and have either been unsuccessful or have had to take well below market value to get out.

I realize that we did voluntarily buy the house but when we purchased the home initially the speeding was not bad. It became much worse when the builder opened up the road that led out of the neighborhood. It now connects to two additional neighborhoods and is a used heavily as a cut through to avoid a somewhat busy school area. The builder told homeowners they were not going to open up the road but ended up doing it anyway.

The only solution to this would be to gate the neighborhood, privatize the road and then put speed bumps on it. That of course will never happen because the majority of the people aren't subjected to the crazy speeders and will not vote to gate the neighborhood. The only thing that will possibly change anything is a death.

My question is, can the Gwinnett County government, the city of Sugar Hill or the builder, be held responsible for building a road that cannot be safely policed and that has created a situation were we cannot sell our homes for market value?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
Last edited:
No. This sounds like it is a private road in a private development. Even still, no one else is responsible for the irresponsible behavior of a given motorist on the road.

If there is an HOA or community organization of some kind, you are welcome to bring this up at any meetings and suggest solutions. Even if a speed bump isn't possible, perhaps a sign to look out for children playing, or painting a warning on the road would be acceptable. There are also these you can buy yourself https://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Ki...30502&wl11=online&wl12=49767356&wl13=&veh=sem
 
Thanks for the reply.

One question, aren't roads in non-gated neighborhoods public roads? The city / county is responsible for the maintenance of this road and not the homeowners and the Gwinnett County police have pulled people over in the neighborhood for failure to stop at the stop signs.

Thanks again.
 
Would appreciate any additional input from any other experts out there.

Thanks.


Form a citizens committee of concerned residents who reside in the area.
Create a list of concerns.
Obtain signatures of the concerned citizens (registered voters) on a petition.
Ask to meet with your city councilperson about the matter.
Ask to meet with the mayor.

Talk to the police chief, ask for selected enforcement efforts to be focused on your community.

Lobby the city council.

Your issues are grass roots citizen concerns all over the world.

You have to let you elected officials know you have a problem.

Take videoes of the offenders to buttress your argument.



Good luck.
 
Form a citizens committee of concerned residents who reside in the area.
Create a list of concerns.
Obtain signatures of the concerned citizens (registered voters) on a petition.
Ask to meet with your city councilperson about the matter.
Ask to meet with the mayor.

Talk to the police chief, ask for selected enforcement efforts to be focused on your community.

Lobby the city council.

Your issues are grass roots citizen concerns all over the world.

You have to let you elected officials know you have a problem.

Take videoes of the offenders to buttress your argument.



Good luck.

Hello Army Judge,

Thanks for the input. Looks like a bit of work ahead of me.
 
Back
Top