Community Corner

Slow Down, Or Else! Sign Showing Gun Used to Deter Speeders

Wayne family says drivers have disobeyed speed laws for too long, needed to make a strong statement.

The last straw came when a street sign shaped like a child asking drivers to slow down was run over and shattered.

The irony of the situation rubbed neighbors of the 118-house neighborhood in Wayne the wrong way, so one family decided to take a stronger stand.

Gail and Craig Rovere, with three kids between the ages of 10 and 13, had a sign designed that would certainly make drivers take notice. And maybe even heed the warning.

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The yellow sign, attached to a post, reads:

WARNING – If you hit one of these kids because you are speeding you will not need a lawyer

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Below the words is a photo of a handgun.

“When the street sign – shaped like a child – was run over, it was like, ‘is this a joke? This has to be a joke,’” Gail Rovere told Patch Friday. “That’s when we and our neighbors really felt something needed to happen.”

Rovere has lived in the same home since 1999, and her husband has been a Wayne resident since 1976. The posted speed limit signs in the small residential neighborhood is 25 miles-per-hour, but that’s not even close to the pace motorists are driving through the neighborhood, Rovere said.

There’s no outlet to the area, and there’s only one entryway and exit, Rovere said, but she routinely sees cars driving between 40 and 50 miles-per-hour.

About 30 to 40 kids live in the neighborhood, ranging from infants to high school students.

Only one neighbor has complained so far, Rovere said, who took aim at Craig Rovere, and nearly hit the couple’s son when she sped away from the verbal altercation.

So is the sign offensive? That’s kind of the point, Rovere said.

“That was the intention, to get people to take notice,” she said. “Drivers have slowed down to read it and, most importantly, we’ve definitely seen an increased police presence in the neighborhood.”

The sign went up last week on a piece of property across the street from the Rovere home. It was taken down by the town, however, but not because of its message. Rather, the sign had been placed on a piece of municipal property. The Roveres were able to load the sign back up on their own property and have not been bothered by the town since.


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