If you’ve ever lived on a street where people tear past your house way too fast, you know the frustration of one neighborhood father who finally took revenge. His strategy was dangerous and could easily have ended in someone getting hurt and him being sued. But again, he’s not alone in his frustration.

A Redditor posted this story about a family the knew, growing up in suburbia in the 80s. These folks live on “a street that, while residential, was a popular shortcut for other neighborhoods. ” Most cars still drove by at a safe speed. But not everyone.

“One man in particular would always drive past their house at 40-50 mph–which is twice the speed limit.”

This family’s dad “was a mechanic and had easy access to old tires.” And he decided a tire would be his tool to teach the speeder a limit. “He grabbed one and waited until the speeder came roaring down the street and bounced it into the road.”

Tossing that kind of variable in front of an already speeding car–on a residential street–is not a great idea. The Redditor argued, “If the car had been going a safe speed he’d have been able to stop in plenty of time, but of course he wasn’t.”

Whether or not that’s true, the result was the same. “His car hit the tire hard and he slammed on the brakes and stopped.”

Obviously, the driver wasn’t happy with the sudden obstacle. ” He was furious when he saw the dad there, just staring at him with his arms crossed. He got out of his car and started screaming at the dad for throwing the tire in the road.”

The real revenge was in what the dad said. ” The dad looked him in the eye and said, ‘That could have been my four-year-old,’ and turned and walked away without another word.”

After such a sudden, surprising impact, the image of hitting a toddler instead must have stuck with the driver. “The man never sped past their house again.” Right or wrong, lesson learned. You can see the original Reddit post embedded below:

Speed in my neighborhood? I don’t think so.
byu/literallylittlehuff inpettyrevenge