Roadside Memorials: How long?
 

Fatal car crashes spawn roadside memorials.

you know, the crosses the teddy bears, the fake flowers....

How long should they last?

Should the bereaved have a right to place them on private property?

There's one in town that's artfully painted on a cement highway strut, and it's been there for about 40 years at this point. Someone keeps the paint fresh every few years, and the city's never tried to cover it.

is it distracting to drivers?

Mylar balloons, ribbons, stuffed animals and paper goods, look like shit pretty quickly. Some of them look like someone dumped their trash there, which is hardly respectful to the deceased. :headshake

I agree. There's one near us -presumably for a child- which had been around for a couple of years now and currently is a stack of mouldy stuffed animals duct-taped to an electrical pole. Would it really be inappropriate to remove it? Someone must think so, because new animals get added from time to time

If it's not on your property it would not only be inappropriate, but possibly illegal.

South Dakota has this really intense policy of putting a sign up for every driving death, or maybe every drunk driving death. I never got a clear sense of it, and couldn't find anything googling.

Basically, every awful turn or anywhere else that there was a traffic fatality, there was a sign which said something like "THINK" on one side, and "DON'T DIE" on the other, with some finer print about the dangers of drunk / reckless driving.

There would be some curves with a half dozen of these signs in a tight row. Worse around the reservations south of the Badlands, or on smaller roads in the rural south-central region.

The clearest explanation I got from a local while passing through the summer before this past one was that they had a really amazingly high rate of driving fatalities, due to a high statewide speed limit (75?) and a low age for licenses (15?).

I found it to be a fairly sobering reminder that someone else had fucked their shit up on that same road.

The crosses and flowers tend to effect me less. Like if there's a personalized commemoration it's this statement to some effect that the person who died, who is being memorialized, was not responsible for it.


edit: here it is, then: from a blog post relevant to the thread as a whole, via roadsideamerica.com:

In (South) Australia, we have the same set up for the same purpose. A small black post with a red cross (Christian shape) marks a fatality, and a white post with a red cross (I think) marks a serious injury.

The idea is, I guess, to remind drivers about the imminence and immanence of death, and alert them to particularly dodgy corners. I've no idea if it actually works, or if it is just distracting.

I've never thought about the issues of degenerating memorials or private property--mostly because they're usually on the side of a public road and I don't get close enough to notice if they're mouldy or something.

I'm kinda surprised to hear of such memorials in other places--I always thought it was a Mexican/hispanic-american thing. We get a lot of them here, with crosses and flowers--sometimes pictures or paintings of La Virgen.

I think many states have laws concerning what they can be made of, i.e. wood or other substances that can degrade and not be a hazzard, but not some thing like concrete. As long as someone continues to keep them up I don't think most people care if they are there or not.

I agree with Cloud, and I have heard from other people that it is a common thing among Hispanic peoples. The exact spot where they died becomes sacred.

They seem to be on the increase here.

They're pretty common in some European countries, notably Greece.

I know about probably a half dozen in my daily travels. I have no problem with them. And, yes, I think that a property owner should be consulted before a memorial is placed. That's why it's called private property.

There's one not too far from my place that's been there at least five years. It always squicks me out - whomever keeps putting different baseball caps on the top of the cross.

Ew.

No issues here with them. They're all over Missouri. Some are rather extensive as far as the quality goes. I've seen a few along busy streets between the sidewalk and curb.

I'd probably put one up if I lost a loved one in a traffic accident.

I dislike the messy or extravagant displays, and find them more annoying than sobering. If they mean something to someone then I say, "go ahead" - at least they aren't billboards. I have heard that mowing crews have issues with the markers because the stuff has to be mowed around and some of the memorial's junk might get hung up or kicked out of the blades. Paint and consistent posts sounds like a good solution.

"In memory of my loved one, here is the exact point where he hit the guardrail."

I think I'd rather decorate a grave, or a plaque--more accessible, more compatible, less chance of being run over and adding to the death count.

I don't like them because they keep reminding me to stop speeding...so I'm late.

What's the vector, Victor?

Whats our clearance, Clarence?

I always find them to be somewhat accusatory, myself. No one ever puts up a memorial for the sleepy guy who just drove off the road and killed himself. They put up a memorial for the person who (in the family's mind, at least) wasn't at fault in the accident. It's more like, "Let's not forget that some douchbag killed my loved one here."

here perished our pride and joy
in his pranged and twisted toy
it wasn't the speed that caused the wreck
but his urgent need to send a text

here died my baby girlie
18 and blond and curly
here also perished two kiddywinks
because my baby had a few drinks

united with his maker at last
my cheating spouse was going too fast
sadly his girlfriend survived the crash
and sued his estate for loads of cash

Should I apply to Hallmark?

Here died my beloved Mike
All he did was ride a bike
An asshole in a 4-wheel-drive
Made sure he didn't stay alive.

Roadside memorials..
 

While I have seen many travling from point to point, they do not bother me any at all, in fact I feel that they can be used as a awaking to the younger drivers of the dangers of driving.

As for is they stay up, it should be mantained as long as the family wishes it to be.

interesting username, dude.

welcome.

[grits teeth]mustnotbegrammarfascist[/teeth]

Good, then I won't have to slap you.:rolleyes:

... slap me anyway? You know you want to.

Roadside Memorials
 

ZenGum:
No I am not a grammar fascist, I realize that the everyone seems to think that youremeantome should be the proper name. It is a inside joke of me and a select friend..

it makes it interesting ;)

...and thus prove the user name to be correct.

I think I'm going to put up a memorial in the hospital room where my grandmother died.

I think this may have been the story that prompted me to ask:

http://www.annarbor.com/news/mystery...tims-re-built/

clearly the relatives had differing opinions.

Apparently the girls in this case died beause they weren't wearing seatbelts. A memorial to stupidity. They should add a seatbelt to it.

I don't think I'd like a memorial to a relative of mine left there indefinitely, especially not the type with stuffed animals ..I find it unnecessarily morbid and somewhat distasteful. But that's just me. Imaging in a celeb chose to kill themselves on the public highway in front of your house. you'd be plagued by mouldy stuffed animals forever. Unless they got in the way of the mowing.

Sorry, couldn't help it. Welcome to the Cellar. We won't always be mean to you. :)

of course it could have been "your mean tome".

http://www.deltaforce.com/catalog/media/C-9124.jpg

Tomes can be so cruel sometimes!

There was a memorial half a block down from me- commemorating the spot of a mans murder. I feel bad for the family and it was tastefully done. But on the flip-side...This dispels any illusion I might have had about being safe in my neighborhood. What it really means is that the neighborhood might be livable as a rental, but don't even think of buying there. It's on quite a lovely backroad until you imagine a murderer behind every lovely tree in the orchard.

BTW, I think the actual answer is --- one year seems like a reasonable memorial period. Put it up after the demise, take it down on the anniversary.

Yeah, that's kind of creepy.

"This is where my father Rick
Was brutally murdered by a TICK."

I have to agree, they are nice but the problem is that it does remind you that the place is not the safest. It removes that comfort zone. But I also feel that if they died because of stupidity, it doesn’t need to be recognized or remembered,

Cic, I think you have the opening paragraph to a new murder mystery book! Keep it going. Go with it...:D