Blowing your lawn trimmings onto the road

[Richard]

It's been 30 years since I lived in a situation where I'd be mowing right next to a paved road. I always made a couple rounds with the chute pointing inward.... not because I was concerned about any clippings on the road (who would have thought that 'back in the day'?)

Actually, my concern was for how 'rude' I felt it to be to be blowing the clippings towards the road and what if someone drove by such that I blew the clippings all over them?

My biggest fear was that bad moment when I'd hit a rock and it would fly out the mower, impaling their door and I'd get into trouble.

Simple fix was to merely blow inwards until I was in far enough to not worry.

 

[Western]

It's been 30 years since I lived in a situation where I'd be mowing right next to a paved road. I always made a couple rounds with the chute pointing inward.... not because I was concerned about any clippings on the road (who would have thought that 'back in the day'?)

Actually, my concern was for how 'rude' I felt it to be to be blowing the clippings towards the road and what if someone drove by such that I blew the clippings all over them?

My biggest fear was that bad moment when I'd hit a rock and it would fly out the mower, impaling their door and I'd get into trouble.

Simple fix was to merely blow inwards until I was in far enough to not worry.

Kinda been my thought too. I have a neighbor that mows his frontage 1-2 times a year, he blows so much on the road that you can barely see the opposite side of the road! It is amazing how many folks go through life with blinders on, as if they are the only ones in the world.

I do remember in the 60's during Fall, everyone raking huge piles of leaves to the curb and burning them.

 

[keegs]

In NJ it's common for municipalities to provide an annual leaf pickup service. Residents rake or blow leaves to the curb where they are collected, usually vacuumed and mulched into a large truck on a schedule, four or five times during the fall season. The leaf mulch is composted over winter and spring and made available to residents and landscapers in early summer.

The counties monitor the towns to make sure leaves aren't left curbside for an extended period. My understanding is that this is so that storm sewers don't get clogged up.

I've never heard of an accident being attributed to leaf collection but I imagine that it's likely happened.

 

[Dargo]

I don't know as they are.
I don't really see it as a big issue .
The traffic wil blow them rite back off the road.

It's really pretty easy. How about I bag 12 acres of lawn at my place and use a couple of dump trucks to spread it across the road for a half a mile or so in each direction where you live. When you slide off the road, because I created an unsafe condition on the road, I tell you that "I don't really see it as a big issue".

In almost every state it is illegal to create unsafe road conditions. Just ask any construction company that has dragged mud out onto a roadway and has been forced to clean their mess. The mud will eventually dry to dirt and just blow back off the road. What's the issue?

 

[Dargo]

I try to blow mine back in the yard just because it looks better.

I'll readily admit that was the sole reason I always did so when mowing commercially and why I never cover my own 1/4 mile concrete driveway with clippings. I'd never have paid for jobs if I covered people's driveways, roads and sidewalks with trimmings when doing it for a job. I don't think I need to comment about how it would look to cover you own driveway with trimmings.

It just cracks me up when I hear guys talking about how they can't keep grass from growing all through their gravel driveway when they blow their clippings all over their driveway each time they mow. I generally ask them if they know where grass comes from. That usually elicits a prompt "from grass seeds you moron!" To whit I simply respond by asking them if they have any idea where grass seeds come from. "Well, from grass you dumb twit" would be a common reply. Simply smiling I tell them that they are successful in seeding their driveway while constantly applying a nice supply of compost for nutrients as well.

But, the issue I wanted to bring to the surface with the thread is the very real danger created by blowing your trimmings out onto the roadway. I'd like to think nobody here would think "tough luck" if doing so killed someone or caused an accident. A sheriff I spoke with told me that they make dozens of accident runs each year that are caused from lawn waste making the roadway more slippery than it would be otherwise. The guy down the road from me literally has covered both lanes of a 2 lane blacktop road for about a half mile so badly that you couldn't even see the center lane markings for a couple of days after he mowed. I sincerely wish nobody had to endure severe injuries to get him to stop his practice, but it's going to cost him dearly. I assure you, if you cover the road with your trimmings and it causes an accident, there is no debate on the matter.

 

[RobS]

It's just sloppy to blow your trimmings on the road.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I live on an old farm along a two lane road and people blow their clippings on the road all the time. Must admit that when I mow along the edge of my property I mow "facing traffic" which blows clippings onto the road. I like to be able to see the traffic coming at me as people drive like maniacs on this road however I stop mowing if traffic is passing by. After saying all that I do take the blower and get the debris off the road.

 

[kthompson]

As the amount of clippings varies a lot I will quickly say LBrown is correct at times and others times or maybe other mowing jobs it is an issue. On our rural farm road the shoulders of the road always leave clippings on the road regardless of who mows it, state or individuals. Never have really seen a ton of grass clippings on a road. Boy that would be a lot.

Sometimes a discharge chute will make you turn it toward the road for clearance. The job that gets me is the leaf blowers especially in commercial districts blowing parking lot off onto road.

I am not throwing off in any manner with this comment but it is also the responsibility of any driver not to drive faster than they can safely see to drive safe. It could be a dog or fox and create just as dangerous situation.

I do agree it can be rude.

 

[RobertN]

My thoughts too.

I always thought it was just tacky.

Sometimes stuff just goes in the street. So clan it up. It looks better, and is just a nice courtesy.

We had a mom/pop yard service for a couple of years; I always made sure stuff was picked up. Not just blown back on the yard, but picked up. Otherwise, the day after the wind would blow, and the same stuff would be all over again.

It's been 30 years since I lived in a situation where I'd be mowing right next to a paved road. I always made a couple rounds with the chute pointing inward.... not because I was concerned about any clippings on the road (who would have thought that 'back in the day'?)

Actually, my concern was for how 'rude' I felt it to be to be blowing the clippings towards the road and what if someone drove by such that I blew the clippings all over them?

My biggest fear was that bad moment when I'd hit a rock and it would fly out the mower, impaling their door and I'd get into trouble.

Simple fix was to merely blow inwards until I was in far enough to not worry.

 

[Wis Bang]

In NJ it's common for municipalities to provide an annual leaf pickup service. Residents rake or blow leaves to the curb where they are collected, usually vacuumed and mulched into a large truck on a schedule, four or five times during the fall season. The leaf mulch is composted over winter and spring and made available to residents and landscapers in early summer.

The counties monitor the towns to make sure leaves aren't left curbside for an extended period. My understanding is that this is so that storm sewers don't get clogged up.

I've never heard of an accident being attributed to leaf collection but I imagine that it's likely happened.

That's how they do it in our township. A few years ago an early snowfall made a real mess of it too!

Now when they re-pave a street they are changing the catch basin casting to stop large trash from entering the storm drains. Instead of a 3" - 4" high opening in the curb there is a new piece w/ a small opening and/or a series of small holes so plastic drink bottles and similar trash won't get washed into the catch basin.