Lake Tahoe Residents Use Scarecrows To Trick Motorists Into Slowing Down

Lake Tahoe residents are so fed up with motorists speeding through their town that they have resorted to constructing makeshift scarecrows out of watermelons to trick drivers into reducing their speed.

“It’s like a constant road race through here,” one area resident told Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA. “Indy 500.”

“We’re just getting hammered, hammered with traffic,” said another.

Apparently, the problem area residents face is that construction crews along Highway 89 cause big traffic jams for motorists headed to Tahoe City for weekend getaways. In an effort to avoid the major highway and its traffic jams, drivers take side streets through local neighborhoods, but do not sufficiently cut down their speed as they pass through these busy, narrow communities.

After unsuccessful attempts at posting “Slow Down” signs throughout the area, exasperated residents turned to the watermelon scarecrows to shock drivers into slowing down.

When asked if the makeshift scarecrows are succeeding in slowing drivers down, area resident Ada Marier told KCRA, “it works.”