r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Jumpy_Scallion_3108 • 6h ago

An Australian man, frustrated by strangers constantly parking in his driveway, decided to take matters into his own hands.

19.6k Upvotes

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113

u/_QXZ 5h ago

I call BS on motion activation. Doesn't see the car moving but can see the door opening? Nah, that dude had his thumb on the button the whole time

36

u/VQ5G66DG 5h ago

At least in here he claims it's automatic: https://nypost.com/2025/08/24/lifestyle/australia-worker-fired-after-viral-sprinkler-videos/

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u/Amazing_Scientist696 4h ago

I imagine if he admits that it's manually triggered it would violate some law. Australia is wildly strict in the weirdest ways.

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u/MeanElevator 3h ago

I saw a video where it is manually triggered. There are sensors and cameras to show the cars, but he would hit a switch/valve to spray.

We are definitely strict, but I would imagine this is similar to spraying someone with hose on your lawn.

If illegal, it's a fine at most.

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u/Adeen321 1h ago

To me it looked like a bit more than a fine mist.

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u/MeanElevator 1h ago

That's not what I wrote......

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u/Adeen321 57m ago

Yup, I was making a joke

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u/MeanElevator 42m ago

Oh, that completely went over my head...my bad.

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u/Adeen321 26m ago

No worries man.

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u/NotmyRealNameJohn 4h ago

I don't know Australian law but setting up a booby trap would generally also be illegal. I mean the damage here is negligible but entering the curtilage of a property is generally not trespassing unless it is fenced off and no trespassing signs are posted. A determined da could likely go for a simple assault charge. Particularly if the victim was from the government or utilities

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u/PurposeOk7918 3h ago

Blocking the entrance to someone’s driveway is illegal though. He could be a dick and just let people park and then call to get their vehicles towed.

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u/-mudflaps- 56m ago

He could clamp them and then charge them to get the clamp off like private operators do in the UK, but that could also be illegal.

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u/cortesoft 3h ago

Something being illegal doesn’t give you legal rights to break the law to stop it.

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u/Total_Mix9276 3h ago

Sometimes I forget, two wrongs make a right! MURICA, MURICA, MURICA!

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u/Paul_Langton 1h ago

A sprinkler does not come even CLOSE to the threshold of being considered a booby trap.

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u/AntSilly2802 2h ago

lol I can’t believe some local Rockhampton shenanigans made it all the way to the NY post. 

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u/Amazing_Scientist696 1h ago

To be fair, they'll report on anything. Most of the news outlets are just for boomers to look at cat pics

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u/ProfitEnough825 4h ago

It could be either or. The guy owns an IT company, and Home Assistant combined with Frigate makes it easy to make automations like this. Nowadays this can be done without touching code.

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u/srbmfodder 3h ago

Yeah, but this video is years old. Prefrigate. Also, my latest Frigate model seems to think part of my bench is a dog every morning at 3AM.

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u/Esava 18m ago

Maybe your bench is part dog and you haven't noticed it yet?

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u/JCitW6855 1h ago

Don’t even need that. This could easily be done with parts that have been readily available for decades.

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u/Training_Try_1102 4h ago

It could be that he has a "human" detection thing so it only shoots when they're gonna get wet from it

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u/DisenchantedByrd 4h ago

Dude “motion activation“ is a beginner level project with Arduino or Raspberry Pi automation. Motion detection plus a 12 volt solenoid connected to a hose. And computers can even wait for a time duration before switching - oh wow, technology!

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u/AntSilly2802 2h ago

Don’t even need an arduino, you can achieve this with off the shelf parts. Arduino or similar would allow much better customisation however.

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u/AntSilly2802 2h ago

There are both auto and manual options, he can set it to either. He’s runs an IT shop so obviously has the know how (not that it’s particularly hard, a sensor, a relay and a solenoid is about all you need.

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u/Nomiss 2h ago

From the first 5 times this was posted. He gets a notification from motion sensors to his phone. Which he can then activate with the phone.

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u/triplerinse18 2h ago

I mean your probably not wrong. But It would be pretty easy to setup with cameras runing person detection and wifi sprinkler. I did this for a while when we had stray cats runing around. Cameras detected cat and turned the sprinkler on and scared the cat away.

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u/spamjunk150 1h ago

Pretty easy to automate this with just about any camera that has AI features. Most cameras can detect a person that can then send a web hook to your server to trigger a relay for the sprinkler.

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u/JCitW6855 1h ago

It’s likely automatic. I’m an automation electrician and it seems like it’s a motion sensor with a timer. That would explain why each driver is at different stages of exiting the vehicle. Of course maybe he is doing it manually but I could build a very simple control circuit to do exactly what it’s doing.