Speed Bumps/Humps Installed *Possibly* with the Intention of Damaging Vehicles
Hi everyone.
I live in an apartment building in a fairly high traffic area. Unfortunately, the main street my building faces is quite busy and is almost impossible to turn onto (left or right) during most times of the day, but especially during the morning and evening rush hour. Thankfully, this hasn’t been much of an issue since there were two separate exits on the side of the building onto a less busy street (which intersects with the main road) that allows for a much easier time turning during most times of day.
Several months ago, the city blocked off one of these side exits as they have allotted the portion of the parking lot with this exit for overflow hospital parking. This was quite frustrating for residents of my building who had been using this exit for years since we now mostly had to utilize one exit.
Here is where the legal issue lies. This second exit runs between several businesses and is fairly skinny, only one car at a time can fit. I believe either building residences were speeding through or perhaps clogging it up (though I very rarely would run into anyone else while I was driving through there), which led to one of the businesses putting up a road block on one side. This was taken down within a few days however. Now, I believe the same business has installed several large speed bumps/humps that have ended up damaging several vehicles (including my own). Despite travelling at less than 5km/h, the first bump scraped up the bottom of my vehicle. My partner, as well as another building resident, drove through last week and spotted several men sat outside one of the businesses laughing and pointing at the vehicles as they scraped after each bump.
I believe this parking lot/alleyway is owned by this business and is private property, but it is fully accessible to the public and houses several other businesses.
Is it legal for this business to install speed bumps/humps with the intention of damaging vehicles for passing through? Are there any regulations for speed bumps/humps that would apply to private property? Would the business be liable of the damage caused by the speed bumps/humps?
Thank you!