Angry!!!!!

[KD5NRH]

as much fun as the mailbox revenge would be, it would more likely get you sued big time in this day and age.

That's why you go out in the middle of the night and do it at the neighbors' houses each time the vandals come through.  After there's enough "I have no idea who fixed my mailbox but I like it" going around, then you can do yours.

[MechAg94]

I think I'd just go with stockpiling a few cheap mailboxes and some sort of easily replaceable post. It sounds like nothing you put up is going to last for more than a few seasons anyway, and as much fun as the mailbox revenge would be, it would more likely get you sued big time in this day and age.

Dad just replaced our earlier this year due to repeat notice from the post lady that our box did not meet the height standards required by the USPS. Apparently, everyone on our road got it. Somehow, despite the fact that Dad was the only one to actually do anything about it, mail is still being delivered.  Anyway, he didn't spend more than $100 for box, plastic post and stickers. It's nothing fancy. Plan white box. Looks fine, is perfectly acceptable as a repository for incoming and outgoing mail and the only bitching that will happen if it gets wacked is Dad since it will mean he has to go into Lowe's to get a new one (he hates Lowe's)

You really just want something that will withstand hits from a bat and will cause significant damage to a pickup if they try to run over it.  The rubber one looks like a good idea, but I would mount it on a pipe or stone pedestal such that running over it would cause some damage. 

My mail box is in one of those group boxes a block away.  My parents have been in their house for 30 years.  I don't recall any issues with that sort of vandalism.  Many of the road signs still have bullets holes.  Everyone year Senior 'XX is replaced by Seniors 'XX+1.  The usual stuff.

[RevDisk]

My parents had their mailbox nailed. The police sent a letter saying they had caught the perp but couldn't identify as they were a minor. There was an enclosed check presumably from the perp's parents to cover damages.

Someone nailed my mailbox. Could have been random teens, no idea. I just replaced it with a larger steel model. Haven't taken precautions as it hasn't happened a second time. Considering it's on essentially a large steel tubing T with several other mail boxes, I can drill some holes and bolt on a large steel L bracket if it becomes necessary.

[zxcvbob]

You really just want something that will withstand hits from a bat and will cause significant damage to a pickup if they try to run over it.  The rubber one looks like a good idea, but I would mount it on a pipe or stone pedestal such that running over it would cause some damage. 

BTW, a very heavy steel mailbox weakly attached to a flimsy or breakaway post will detach and come through the windshield if someone hits it.  That might not be desirable even tho' it sounds good.

[Firethorn]

BTW, a very heavy steel mailbox weakly attached to a flimsy or breakaway post will detach and come through the windshield if someone hits it.  That might not be desirable even tho' it sounds good.

It sounds like Mech was suggesting the opposite - a flexible mailbox that would simply deform then return to shape when hit by things like a bat.

Then a more substantial post that would encourage people driving a truck to avoid striking it.

[zxcvbob]

It sounds like Mech was suggesting the opposite - a flexible mailbox that would simply deform then return to shape when hit by things like a bat.

Then a more substantial post that would encourage people driving a truck to avoid striking it.

Yeah, I just thought I'd put that out there in case someone was thinking of an indestructible box on a disposable post.

[Fitz]

I think I would be fine with a big steel mailbox going through the windshield of someone attempting to destroy it. YMMV

[Phyphor]

Yeah, I have zero problem with vandals suffering damage caused by their own ass hattery.

[MechAg94]

Yeah, I just thought I'd put that out there in case someone was thinking of an indestructible box on a disposable post.

It is also a decent idea.  However, if you but a big heavy steel box out there, someone might just decide the scrap price of steel is high enough to risk it. 

[BlueStarLizzard]

I think I would be fine with a big steel mailbox going through the windshield of someone attempting to destroy it. YMMV

I'm fine with that part.

It's the lawsuit part when the asshats get hurt that's the potential problem. I don't trust our screwed up legal system and asshats win way too many lawsuits to take that risk.

[Firethorn]

I'm fine with that part.

It's the lawsuit part when the asshats get hurt that's the potential problem. I don't trust our screwed up legal system and asshats win way too many lawsuits to take that risk.

And what happens if a non-asshat hits it because they're dodging a person, deer, dog, or having a heart attack?

[BlueStarLizzard]

And what happens if a non-asshat hits it because they're dodging a person, deer, dog, or having a heart attack?

Yeah, that would also suck.

[MechAg94]

And what happens if a non-asshat hits it because they're dodging a person, deer, dog, or having a heart attack?

Where my parents live, they could just as easily go into the ditch and slam into the end of the culvert.  Lots of hazards when you leave the road.  A heavy duty mail box is the least of them. 

[KD5NRH]

And what happens if a non-asshat hits it because they're dodging a person, deer, dog, or having a heart attack?

Same as if they hit any of the various other things found along roads that don't give way easily; oak trees, concrete culverts, parked trucks, Chuck Norris, loose cattle, bridge abutments, trains, buildings, etc.

Simple rule; when you're controlling a couple tons of steel moving at high speed, that is your first priority.  I've known plenty of people who have had heart attacks, and none of them reported going instantly from condition white (which you should never be in while driving anyway) to 10/10 unbearable pain.  In fact, two of them were driving at the time and were able to pull over safely. 

As for dogs, if the owners don't keep them out of the road, they're speed bumps.  I will not risk losing control of a vehicle to save an animal; I'll brake and/or swerve as much as I feel safe doing, but if there's a risk of a skid, Fido is buzzard chow.

People in the road vary.  They rarely teleport instantaneously into the middle of high speed roadways, and on lower speed roadways, it doesn't take a high performance vehicle to stop quickly.  It only takes browsing through the stories of cyclists, pedestrians, farm equipment and horse-drawn buggies hit from behind when a driver "couldn't get enough room to pass safely" to figure out that a lot of drivers really are asshats who don't consider slowing down until there's a safe passing opportunity to be an option.