Albany man's clever solution succeeds in slowing traffic

ALBANY — For Rick Pyburn of North Albany, simply going to the mailbox used to be a hair-raising adventure.

His home sits on a straightaway on Springhill Drive and motorists tend to apply the lead foot as they speed by, well in excess of the posted limit.

The family that owned that home previously lost four dogs to speeding vehicles. Pyburn has lost five chickens and counting.

"People hit 'em and just keep on going," Pyburn said.

He used to call the Benton County Sheriff's Office about the problem.

"They're so busy patrolling, they don't have the time to sit there," Pyburn said.

Then one day as he watched a sheriff's car cruise by a light bulb lit up over his head.

With the help of a local sign company, Pyburn constructed a two-dimensional plywood Benton County sheriff's car, well, the front half of one anyway.

After setting the decoy up in some bushes near the road, Pyburn saw a marked improvement.

"Once I placed that on the highway, it was amazing," he said. "The traffic immediately slowed down."

Pyburn realizes the plywood car is not all that realistic looking, and that commuters on the route may realize it's a fake, but just a glimpse of the silhouette has a psychological impact on drivers, he said.

They ease up on the gas when they see the car with Pyburn's reproachful visage in the "window" warning them to slow down.

"I didn't want it to be exactly like a police car, so there's a little humor there" he said. "But it's enough like a police car that it puts a little bit of doubt in people's minds."

The Benton County Sheriff's Office doesn't seem to mind the imposter, though they would like to have more deputies on duty so that residents did not have to resort to such ingenuity, said Benton County Undersheriff Diana Simpson.

"There are a lot of areas in the county that we would like to provide patrol services to," Simpson said. Springhill and Bellfountain roads came immediately to mind.

"We just don't have the resources to get patrol cars in to those areas all the time," she said.

Pyburn and his neighbors have appreciated the effect of the cut-out car so much, he said, that a newer, better faux sheriff's car is in the works.

This time he's shooting for more realism in size and shape, he said, and the updated model will be made of a weatherproof composite material. He plans to market copies of the car for residents in both city neighborhoods and rural areas.

"There's a lot of people in our situation that could benefit," he said.

Pyburn grew up in Albany. He owns and operates a third-generation family building and remodeling business, Pyburn and Sons.

"I really love creating things," he said. "I get a big kick out of that."