Atlanta Mailboxes And Posts - Potential Safety Concerns
Living in a rural or estate area often requires the installation of a mailbox and post, in order to receive daily mail deliveries. Most property owners would prefer to erect mailboxes and posts that are functional for the postal service and at the same time esthetically conforming to the landscape design of the property. Unfortunately, these installations are not as simple as they should be.
Proper installation of roadside Atlanta mailboxes and post requires adherence to the guidelines set by two separate regulatory organizations. The U.S. Postal Service has the responsibility for the accurate and efficient delivery of mail. The USPS therefore sets out guidelines for the proper installation of mailboxes and posts. The Department of Transportation on the other hand has the responsibility of ensuring that our roads are safe for all motorists. This responsibility translates to the safety requirements for the installations of mailboxes and posts.
When most people are preparing their plans for the installation of their mailbox and post, it is natural for them to look to the USPS for any rules or regulations on mailboxes and mailbox posts. Most people however are unaware that the U.S. Department of Transportation also has a say in how your mailbox is installed. Just following the USPS guidelines may result in an improper installation from a safety perspective.
When considering the safety of your Atlanta mailboxes and posts, there are three important considerations in the transportation department guidelines. The first is a concern that if not correctly installed, a mailbox can become dislodged from the post and fly through the window of a vehicle that has crashed into the post. A mailbox post that has been installed too rigidly is the second concern. A rigid mailbox post can create significant vehicle damage and therefore occupant safety concerns similar to a crash into an abutment. The final issue comes into play when multiple mailboxes for one location have been mounted on a horizontal beam, which in turn is mounted onto one or more posts. The potential for the horizontal beam to detach from the mailbox posts in a collision is the final concern. If this happened, the beam could act as a projectile through the windows of the vehicle.
The mailbox post is regularly the element that is installed improperly from a safety perspective. The post must be erected so that it will give or break on vehicle impact. Next, the mailbox needs to be affixed to the post so as not to detach during vehicle impact. The instructions that come with new mailboxes typically specify the minimum requirements for attaching the mailbox to any post. Lastly, with the multiple mailboxes for one location, these mailboxes should never be installed on a single horizontal platform. Each mailbox should have its own post or its own post arm.