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#1 |
I hear them call the tide
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Perpetual Chaos
Posts: 30,852
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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?
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
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#2 |
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
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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.
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#3 |
I hear them call the tide
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Perpetual Chaos
Posts: 30,852
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is it distracting to drivers?
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
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#4 |
The future is unwritten
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
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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.
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The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. |
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#5 |
I hear them call the tide
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Perpetual Chaos
Posts: 30,852
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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
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
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#6 |
The future is unwritten
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
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If it's not on your property it would not only be inappropriate, but possibly illegal.
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The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. |
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#7 | |
Hoodoo Guru
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 286
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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: Quote:
Last edited by gvidas; 08-18-2009 at 02:18 AM. |
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#8 |
Doctor Wtf
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Badelaide, Baustralia
Posts: 12,861
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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.
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Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl. |
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#9 |
...
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,360
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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.
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"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!" |
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#10 |
“Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo”
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Savannah, Georgia
Posts: 21,393
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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.
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Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012! Last edited by TheMercenary; 08-18-2009 at 10:47 AM. |
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#11 |
I hear them call the tide
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Perpetual Chaos
Posts: 30,852
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They seem to be on the increase here.
They're pretty common in some European countries, notably Greece.
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The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart |
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#12 |
I got nothing
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Central PA
Posts: 486
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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.
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Void where prohibited. Your results may vary. Not intended for resale. Do not remove tag. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. |
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#13 |
Fucktard Resistance League
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: 1.14 acres of heaven
Posts: 1,512
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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. |
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#14 |
has left the building.
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 455
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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. |
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#15 |
lives inside a Mobius strip
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,120
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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.
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I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque! - Bugs Bunny |
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