Thinking 'round corners.

While we're on the rare, untapped subject of things I complain about (har, har), now that trees and bushes are in full summer leaf, I have to ask everybody:

What's up with the corners?

Seriously, this is a driving hazard that somehow seems to be understated. While my town is trying to lower all the speed limits to approximately 2 mph to protect small children who should clearly not be left unattended, the issue of dangerous foliage is going unnoticed.

I'm not kidding: This is the kind of corner we have way too many of out here in suburbia:

I'm the blue car. (Sharp, isn't it?) The orange line is my line of sight as I pull up to the intersection. You see that a big bush on the corner is blocking my view of the approaching red car. The arrow shows how far out in traffic I would have to pull to be able to see past the bush. It's not a precision drawing, but surely you can understand the problem.

The street I'm thinking of here borders private property, which is a problem -- as far as I can tell, our town has no ordinance requiring corners be kept clear for the sake of drivers, and even if it did, the way they enforce the clear-sidewalks-of-snow ordinance (i.e., not) tells me we wouldn't have the traffic police going around knocking on doors.

I'm a privacy and property guy; as much as a hazard as this is, I wouldn't complain very much. But it's not just individuals' properties. The local Walmart complex, which of course includes Home Depot, Taco Bell, IHOP, etc. etc. has hedges all over the place. During the summer every turn gives drivers a blocked view of oncoming traffic. And this is a complicated lot designed for cars, full of turns to prevent people from going too fast, not some goat path from the 1800s that happens to have a lot of plants around. And all of those turns have a bush blocking the driver's view. Someone did this on purpose.

Have they never driven in a lot?

I think everybody I know who's been driving for more than a brief period has had some kind of collision in a parking lot. Wouldn't it be smart to make them as safe for drivers as possible, rather than comply with some vision of how the stores would look in a brochure? I've been in Walmart and seen all my fellow customers, and trust me when I say that none of us goes there to see the hedges.

Anyway, these are my thoughts, and if you have any knowledge of why these things are the way they are, or would just like to share your experiences, hit me in comments or at frederick_key at yahoo dot com. I can't possibly be the only person annoyed by this.