Roger Leon Forbes Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 I set up a small car counter in front of house that keeps count from 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm. Count just went over 2500 during display hours. I know some where just pass thru but our average count runs around 20 cars per night. We have also collected a couple barrels of food for Second Harvest Food Bank and around $500.00 in donations. Looks like it's going to be a good year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmacw Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 what type and/or car counter? would be great to put one here as well and even though I'm on the end of a cul de sac , there's at least 20 vehicles out there during peak times and 8 - 10 off peak. Would love to get an accurate number.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeERWNC Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 what type and/or car counter? +1 +1 +1 Please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Leon Forbes Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Got one of the driveway alarm units at Lowes and wired a electric counter into the output points it clicks once per car. If you take it apart you can see on the board where to tie the counter, not hard to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaeolien Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 That's a pretty cool idea. Very awesome on the 2500 cars. I think I counted 4 cars tonight. It may have been a few more than that but that's all I saw stop. Pretty quiet street and first year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeERWNC Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I would love to know how many I see per night.I have counters from arcade games which I have rebuilt over the years...I might have to post some for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcity_gt Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I had my first traffic jam last night....it was awesome lol. It was a small one and cars were only backed up it both directions for less than a minute but it still felt good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 That's a great idea with counting cars. I've had traffic issues... Very big starting tonight! I would imagine 300+ cars tonight plus 10-50 people in driveway on foot at any given time. That's why I do it. I spent majority of night keeping traffic flowing and not upsetting neighbors with blocked driveways and trafficjam. All this time and effort and no people would not make me happy.. On the verge of too much traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh28 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I never get traffic. ever. Maybe by year 15 people will discover my display and stop parking in front of my house.... But seriously, congrats on all the cars. I don't know if alot of traffic is good or bad. I've heard it can be both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxon Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I remember buying these at radio shack! mounted them under my ping pong table with a momentary switch to keep score!! lol (man that was a while ago).2500 cars, WOW! II live at the dead end of a 3 way stop. I have had 1-4 cars steady all night parked across the street. that's not counting the ones that just park in the intersection(was referring to mikes counters) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Marsh, I was frustrated for the first 5-6 years with lack of traffic. Last 5 years keeps getting more and more traffic. After a huge article in every newspaper in 60 square miles this year it's become a bit much. One disgruntled neighbor has put in numerous complaints to the city and local police. (City loves me and does nothing promote my display. LOL). I have their support 100% as well as local police. They both told him to go fly a kite in polite words. Luckilly I'm outside every night all night to keep traffic moving and keep people from blocking driveways. Too much traffic can be a bad thing. I haven't been able to get good video yet due to traffic. I turned lights on last night at 1am to get video and still had cars park and block my view.. I don't do Facebook, but everyone knows me as the house on Facebook. Word of mouth and social networking is the key to huge traffic. Too much traffic can be a pain.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I've got close to 20 cars outside right now and at any one given moment. This weekend will be the busiest for all of us. Saw a fender bender last night, next door to me, cars in line waiting to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need lights Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I have a problem, I must have had well over 500 cars come by, or at least try until the police shut one end of my street down. They were lined up on two main roads. The police left after it was clear, but it lined all the way back down my street and one of the main roads again in just five minutes. I was down to three songs, then just two. Didn't help much. The police knocked on my door and told me we have a major traffic problem and that I have to call the Police Sergeant tomorrow. He asked if I had a permit for the "show" . I told him no because it was just my "display" and I make no profit. The charity we are raising money for is doing unbelievable. Over a thousand just last weekend, who knows this weekend. it would be a shame if I get shut down. Can they shut me down? Do I have any rights to put on my display? I refuse all media attention and facebook just took this to a whole new level. People come to watch, they record and share it. The crazy part is I only have a 64 channel show! I haven't gone big yet(maybe I will never get too?). What am I going to say to the Sergeant tomorrow? Any suggestions? Lots of kids must have been disappopinted tonight because the police didn't tell them to go another way they just waved them away. Some found a way in through the back roads. I just looked outside, the show ended at 11p. There are still several cars driving by, stopping and turning around. IDEAS?? Anyone? Please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I'm no legal expert but I can't imagine they would expect you to obtain a permit. Its just lights! Now they possibly could ask you to have one if you have audible music to the yard, suggesting the possibility of a concert type thing but FM only, I doubt it highly. When you talk to him, just be sure to let him know that you are only trying to bring some good old fashioned Christmas Spirit to all those who are watching the display. You aren't running a business in any way and there's no profit of any sort involved for anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I've spoken to the local police here. I sure that the laws aren't too different ( Canadian). They said that I'm not doing anything illegal. It's the responsibility of the drivers to obey the traffic laws. If there pulled over to the curb & left access for emergency vehicles / neighbors there's no problem. I've had 30+ min wait to get on my street, I'm sure some of the neighbors weren't to impressed. Police come by almost very night to keep an eye on things. It's the city / town I'd be more concerned with. Lots have bylaws about such things. Lindsay's lights were forced into having 2 paid duty police there directing traffic. At $300 a night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstorms Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 At most I'll have 3 cars in front of the house and it is wonderful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizywk Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Our second year here and we had our greatest compliment yet - A car sat there so long voting for their favorite songs to play that they ran their battery down and had to get it jump started. I happened to noticed right away that the hood went up and immediately ran out only to find another visitor already assisting. Christmas brings out the BEST in people. I wouldn't say our display is as tight as the more experienced on this forum, but we're getting there. We're exactly where we hoped to be in terms of visitors, roughly counting hundreds of cars this year running between 5 and 10 cars at any given time from open to close - and nearly all of them are being very considerate of others. Word is starting to get out about us though and we're finding a lot of people are putting videos of our display their facebook pages. Neighbors are still happy too...... for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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