Battle Over Roadside Memorials Heats Up

Fox News ^ | Dec 10, 2003

[Living Free in NH]

ATLANTA

[Living Free in NH]

But if a politician dies, roadside memorials are posted in the form of plaques naming bridges, highways, overpasses after them. If a simple cross is so damn distracting, surely all those signs are down-right dangerous.

Whenever I see one of those crosses, I take a look at my speedometer. More often than not, I drop it down a couple mph's.

[No Blue States]

"political signs or other debris that might distract drivers and cause another accident."

The memorials give one a clue about dangerous intersections and have probably prevented a few accidents by causing some to be more aware of the potential for a wreck at that area.

Its the drivers responsibility to pay attention distractions or not, i wrecked one car as a teen because i was fumbling through my cassette tape box looking for the right Jimi Hendrix tape way too long.

[End Times Sentinel]

Maybe it's just me, but I think there's no more solemn, reverent, and down right classy way to memorialize a person than by putting a message on your car:

 

 

Although, really, it ought to be done in soap or house paint, by hand and refer to them only by their "street name".

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

Maybe it's just me, but I think there's no more solemn, reverent, and down right classy way to memorialize a person than by putting a message on your car:

 

 

Although, really, it ought to be done in soap or house paint, by hand and refer to them only by their "street name".

Maybe it's just me, but I think there's no more solemn, reverent, and down right classy way to memorialize a person than by putting a message on your car:

Although, really, it ought to be done in soap or house paint, by hand and refer to them only by their "street name".

[Senormechanico]

It was reported here last night as a "separation of church and state" issue. Crosses on public land, and all that.

SM

[CaptRon]

Very public displays of mourning have become the norm. I've always believed it is a private matter and these big shows of grief, oftentimes accompanied by new crews, I find unbecoming.

[BJungNan]

Critics see them as safety hazards

Safety hazards, are they nuts! These are a very stark (and sad) reminder to slow down.

[Alberta's Child]

One thing that often gets overlooked about these memorials is that in many cases the person or persons or constructed them in the first place had to break the law to do so.

[N. Theknow]

Separation of church and state? HMMMMM.

There would appear to be a precedent already established.

[Hoboken]

I have questions: How big and gaudy should the states allow these memorials to be?

When these memorials fall apart and blow all over the road, should the bereaved be responsible for running around the highway collecting the debris?

Should the spray-painting of epitaphs on bridges and signs be allowed?

Isn't this what cemeteries are for?

[DonQ]

Ummm, I'm less than enthusiatic about some of these "shrines". I live down the street from one. I live in a fairly developed suburb. About three years ago a bunch of highschoolers got drunk, drove down this curved poorly-lit street at high speed and shortly after a rain storm. For no particular reason the car came up over the curb and smashed into a very substantial oak tree in front of someone's home, killing all three kids. The kids in the car didn't have any connection with that home nor, apparently, with any address for miles around.

Their teenage buddies immediately set up a memorial, with ribbons and floral arrangements and cards and photos and other ephemira, tacked and pinned and nailed to that oak tree. Nobody asked the homeowner's permission, and he wasn't happy about having his front yard converted into a sort of cenotaphe for people he didn't know by other people he didn't know. Kids kept nailing stuff to that oak tree and when the weather got to their various offerings it started to look downright trashy. I think the homeowner was intimidated from just pulling the stuff down and throwing it away. Finally, after more than a year and half, kids stopped making pilgrimages to that tree - evidently the various friends of the deceased had gone off either to college or reform school by then - and after a discrete period of no further embellishments to the oak, someone (presumably the homeowner) made all the knicknacks vanish and the front yard returned to normal.

[cherry]

so.....what's your point....

lots of little laws are broken daily...

these litte crosses are a reminder to me to drive slow, be safe, and pay attention....

all the state funded signs in the world can't get me to do that better than the road side crosses...

[Lijahsbubbe]

and these big shows of grief, oftentimes accompanied by new crews, I find unbecoming.

I agree. There is something not right about these Princess Di type shrines with the teddy bears and balloons. I can understand the family's actions, perhaps, but for friends and others, It almost seems trendy. People gathering and hugging and crying at a crash site, what did happen to going to someone's home and paying respects. As for crosses and leaving items of remembrance, that is what cemeteries are for.

[Alberta's Child]

Lots of little laws are broken daily...

I understand. But a vehicle stopped on the side of a limited-access highway is a hazard to others, which is why most states have laws prohibiting motorists from stopping on these roads unless there is an emergency. The next time you hear about an accident involving a motorist striking a vehicle parked on the side of an interstate highway for no good reason, you might re-think you position and recognize that this may not be such a "little law" after all.

[itzmygun]

Try this:

On a 5 x 8 note card, write, "Drive Slow! Be Safe! Pay Attention!" and tape it to your dashboard. You can even draw a cross on it if you want.

I had a friend who slowed down to avoid hitting a deer and a coal truck following him pulverized him and his car (yes, his family put up a memorial, and two years later, an almost identical accident happened in the same place). I guess driving safe and slow can be just as hazardous to your health.

I'm pretty sure I'm a cold, cynical b*$t*+d, but I think the impetus behind most of these is a "look at my loss" attitude. I loved my Grandfather dearly. Do I get to put up a memorial for him on public property... or is the fact that someone died in a car wreck instead of from a heart attack somehow special? Everyone has a headstone at their grave site - that's thier memorial. If everyone's going to do this, in ten years our roads will be lined with crosses and memorials and signs of death. Won't driving be fun then...

[gcruse]

I once had a friend named Bill Robbins.
Bill went to a dealership and bought a new pickup truck.
On the way home in his new auto, Bill was occupied
with setting the radio buttons to his favorite
stations when he rear-ended a parked car, totalling his
new pickup. No one put up a memorial for the wreck,
but Bill mourned.

[gcruse]

I saw one just like that a few weeks ago.
I felt empathy, intrusive, and finally,
appalled as I almost rear-ended the SUV
in contemplation.

[No Blue States]

I once tried to beat a freight train in my borrowed sisters car, half the car made it over the tracks but the last half didnt.
It totalled her car but i hardly had a scratch.
The only memorial was the broken telephone pole that the mustang rested on as i crawled out the windshield.
It was a close call, thankfully no real memorial was needed.

[R. Scott]

Many are hazards. We have one a couple of blocks from me that has been up for several years. It now consists of three crosses with the names of the dead. It is maintained on a regular basis by several carloads of people who seem to hold a service for the dead. There is no good, safe place for them to park on the busy street.
At one time this Shrine to the Dead had a large number of offerings and was spread out over a wide area.

[End Times Sentinel]

I saw one just like that a few weeks ago.
I felt empathy, intrusive, and finally,
appalled as I almost rear-ended the SUV
in contemplation.

 

You've brightened my day with your beautiful Haiku.

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

I saw one just like that a few weeks ago.
I felt empathy, intrusive, and finally,
appalled as I almost rear-ended the SUV
in contemplation.

 

You've brightened my day with your beautiful Haiku.

I saw one just like that a few weeks ago.
I felt empathy, intrusive, and finally,
appalled as I almost rear-ended the SUV
in contemplation.

You've brightened my day with your beautiful Haiku.

[R. Scott]

It is becoming part of a new Cult of the Dead.
People leave offerings of toys at the grave of children, and are shocked when the toys are stolen.