Rural Family Battles The Car for at Least the Ninth Time

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Maureen Noble’s home has become an impromptu garage for random vehicles almost too many times to count.

The last time was July 8, and she’s still repairing the damage after a Ford came in one side and went out another. According to the Canadian Press, several jars of jam and pickles died violent and colorful deaths in that incident.

It’s getting tiring. She’d like to move, but the home that attracts vehicles like moths to a light bulb also repels nervous buyers.

Noble’s home sits near a sharp curve in the road in a small New Brunswick town. That’s the Canadian province where workers assembled the Bricklin SV-1 out of acrylic and cocaine back in the 1970s.

After the last collision, the retired homeowner (who’s lived in the home since 1971), told CP that the unexpected visitors have become commonplace.

“At least six since the early ’90s that have hit the house and done serious damage,” she said. “Three or four before that … You kind of lose track after awhile.”

Certain parts of the home remain unoccupied out of concern for her and her husband’s safety. The provincial government lowered the speed limit on that section of the road and added warning signs back in 2009 (after two nasty car-home collisions), but it hasn’t done much. Noble wants a guardrail installed, or rumble strips at the very least, but the government (as per tradition) seems to be driving with the parking brake engaged.

That leaves moving as a last resort, but Noble doesn’t think her chances of finding a buyer are very high. In order to pull up stakes, “we’d have to sell the house and do you think anybody’s going to buy the house?” she said.

[Image: The Car/Universal Pictures]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • -Nate -Nate on Aug 20, 2016

    I read this and was wondering where the house pictures were.... I also immediately thought " sounds like they need some large concrete filed Bollards . Or maybe a deep ditch , something nasty to halt the vehicles . When I lived in Newton , Mass in the 1960's on Center Street , a bit down the hill was a left curve with a house behind it , once or twice a year some car would wind up in their yard , I only recall the house being hit twice though . -Nate

  • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Aug 21, 2016

    http://www.belson.com/Concrete-Traffic-Barriers-and-Barricades A cousin and I own a small retail rental property and over and over again, cars and/or pickups would be driven into the front of the store, usually on purpose to burglarize the store. Finally, and this was when my mother and uncle owned it, someone suggested the obvious solution. The ones we had put in back then are just big bright yellow concrete lined posts. A set of these would be a simple fix for the problem. Ours have done very well: http://www.belson.com/Concrete-Traffic-Barriers-and-Barricades

    • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Aug 21, 2016

      Oh, the insurance company loved the idea and PAID for most of the cost of them!

  • George B George B on Aug 21, 2016

    I'd probably create a vehicle barrier out of landscaping. Some large raised flower beds would stop a car before it could hit the house. Well placed shrubs could slow a car down.

  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Aug 22, 2016

    The local government should provide a guardrail. I know of several houses around Dallas (even in residential neighborhoods) where guardrails have been added.

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