The reason why they removed the hoops is that they infringed on the right~of~way. More than once I've seen vehicles hook these hoops while driving through a neighborhood. Responsible owners remove them or at least turn them when out of use so that they do not project out into the roadway. Most people that I've noticed do not bother, and instead leave them for their neighbors to navigate.
Can you explain further Alpha? I'm not getting this. I can't see where he was blocking the right-of-way. His car was parked in front of it.
Sure, if you don't mind baseless speculation
In most jurisdictions you are not allowed to have your (private) property protrude out into the public easement. That easement usually includes the right~of~way as well as the actual roadway. Naturally most areas make an exception for parking (but not always and often not without restrictions). So generally parking is OK but garbage cans, bicycles, skateboard ramps, hockey nets, and basketball hoops are not. I'm sure you're seen the portable hoops - they have wheels on them so that kids can wheel them out of the way when they're not using them. I wish that they would!
If I were to venture a bet I would guess that, had the person in the video situated his hoop away from the street and on his own property, he wouldn't have lost it. Unfortunately, in today's fractious atmosphere there's a sizable chance that even that isn't true, but I think that you get my drift. Further, if his hoop had been portable and he had moved it when he saw what was occurring, he would likely still own it.
So what I imagine was the case was the leftist imposition of "one-size fits all" enforcement (also know by the insipid "zero tolerance" meme). Even though his particular hoop was behind a parked car, they had to seize it because they had seized all the others and didn't want to expose themselves to charges of favoritism. Remember - baseless speculation on my part.
When you say "hooked" do you mean run into them or sideswipe them? But is that the fault of the home owner or the person driving for not paying attention?
I have personally witnessed (happened to someone else, not me!) two accidents involving these portable hoops. One was when two vehicles - one of them being a delivery van - met on a narrow residential street. Naturally they both move to their respective sides of the roadway to avoid one another. The delivery van couldn't see the hoop and caught it with his trailer. The other accident occurred at twilight when an approaching vehicle blinded the driver, who drove right into the hoop. Yes, I would say that there was some responsibility on the part of the drivers. Interestingly, the homeowner, not the driver, was cited in each of those accidents.
At some point we have to accept some people will be jerks, not bothering to be considerate of their neighbors (BTDT) and thus not try to legislate everything to suit our sensibilities.
I absolutely agree!
