The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
So many people hit fire hydrants in Claycord with their vehicle, and thousands upon thousands of gallons of water is wasted. Do you think those responsible for hitting the hydrants should be charged for all the wasted water?
Talk about it….
22 comments
Plus side, recharging ground water, free car washes and entertainment value.
Downside, they make terrible hood ornaments.
Sure, why not. If they have auto insurance, they can pay for the fire hydrant and water too.
I’m sorry exactly what insurance company do you know of that carries policies that will replace fire hydrants and the water when you hit them? The answer is none.
I guess you’ve never heard of PL-PD minimum auto insurance. That would be Public Liability and Property Damage coverage.
Last time I checked a fire hydrant was property. If you have automobile insurance you at the very minimum have PL-PD coverage so yes it would be covered.
@ JAMES MAC ~ Well, …. my insurance company does cover a damaged or replace a fire hydrant, but I would have to pay the deductible. Loss of water is not factored into it though. Hope this answers your question.
Roz, you’d make a great diplomat. My response to James Mac would have been quite different.
Isn’t that how you wash the underside of the car?
asking for a friend!
The water district will sue for damages, including the water, and the cost of replacing the hydrant, and the driver can submit it to the insurance company. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
No. Because the government wastes money at a far greater rate then hydrant hritters waste water
Yes.
.
Plus the cost of a hydrant, ita repair, responding firefighters, police, and utility workers.
.
Figure about $7,500… bill the errant driver or the guilty person who caused the crash.
.
yep…
depending on the type of hydrant, could be crazy amounts of water lost..
Bill the insurance company the same way you’d bill the insurance for any other damage. That’s what insurance is for.
The city has insurance, no the vehicle driver/owner should not pay.
It’s obvious any hydrant that gets hit is cities fault cause they put it there.
Brilliant!
Maybe the city should bury all hydrants under the sidewalk.
I would say should be a “case by case” situation.
Fire hydrants are designed to release water when hit by a car in order to prevent damage to the hydrant and to protect the surrounding area from a possible fire. The water released from the hydrant can also help to cool down the car and the area around it, reducing the risk of a fire starting. Additionally, the release of water can also indicate to emergency responders that a car has hit a hydrant, alerting them to the possibility of a fire or other emergency in the area.
It would depends. First of all why are so many cars hitting hydrants?? Trouble seeing, driving too fast, not sure. If it happends because of poor visibility (rain, fog) no, if it is because someone swerved to avoid hitting another car, or anything for that matter, no. If it is because of reckless driving and driving too fast on city street, some kind of fine would be in order.
You’re under the assumption that all drivers carry auto insurance and/or are responsible human beings. That definitely isn’t the case, especially in California…
But the fire hydrant pulled out right in front of me.!
I would assume the water gets back into the natural cycle of things, either run off to another body of water, absorbed by the ground or evaporated into the air. How often is water from hydrants utilized, just for my own edification? How often are hydrants hit, and is there a preponderance to hit the same one or two hydrants? That would tell me that perhaps some form of barrier could be installed. Not sure how to charge someone for water in this situation.
I have shut off many Hydrants that have been hit by cars. The districts I worked for always tried to recover the cost of the water. I heard the calculation at one time that 10% of all treated water ends up being used for things like this or flushing ,it’s just the cost of doing business to keep our drinking water safe. Hitting a hydrant is costly when you consider underground damage, sidewalk and street damage, landscape damage. Even mud filling pipe risers or storm drains is costly when you send crews out to clean it up. Also a lot of hydrants are damaged to the point that they are no longer trustworthy if they need to be used in a fire so they are replaced. Insurance usually pays for everything. And don’t get too close to a broken hydrant shooting water in the air because the reason we are all wearing hard hats is because sometimes the water is shooting large rocks into the air.
Yes… just like how they pay for or should pay for the hydrant.
If they claim they really needed the water, then they should not be billed.
It’s a progressive thing.
Comments are closed.