Roadside memorials

[Ken King]

Originally posted by blacklabman
I saw them in Montana when I started hunting out there more than 20 years ago. They were not in SOMD at that time.

Researching the topic the first instance of the roadside memorial/shrine that I could find was in Missoula, Montana in 1953 when 7 people were killed in a traffic accident.

 

[Ken King]

Question, would these make shift memorials fall under local zoning ordinance as signs? If so, aren't they limited to 60 days for display purposes?

 

[Dymphna]

Originally posted by Ken King
Question, would these make shift memorials fall under local zoning ordinance as signs? If so, aren't they limited to 60 days for display purposes?

You're probably right, but do you want to be the local elected official who ordered them removed?

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by cmcdanal
You're probably right, but do you want to be the local elected official who ordered them removed?

Why have the ordinance if you don't make people follow them? I would have no problem doing it. One poster already stated that the one up near Chaney is blocking vision, leaving it there could open up a liability issue for that same official and cause someone else to be killed or maimed. Which would you rather be? The one that enforced the law and maybe saved a life or the one that didn't have the balls to enforce the laws and caused another life to be taken.

 

[jlabsher]

Oh man, I agree w/Ken (and with Bluto when we discussed this long ago) Isn't that what cemetaries are for? If I die in a car crash I wouldn't want my picture up by the side of the road for all to see. A cemetary is a place for quiet contemplation of the beloved's life, not the corner down by the Tastee-Freeze!

 

[Dymphna]

I completely agree with you, Ken. You, I and everyone who's read this thread know that this thing is a hazard itself. The county should pull it down for safety reasons, not to mention aesthetic ones, but all those people who put stuff there, all this woman's friends and family and everyone else who has ever put up a similar memorial would disagree. The county may take it down and put out a statement about why, but who's going to read the statement? Will it be in the local paper? When, next month? By then, all the supporters of roadside memorials will have blasted the removal of the stuff and the local elected officials or their political appointees will have come down a notch in the public esteem, at least among those who support the memorials, which I would venture to say is anyone who lost a loved one on the county roads and put up a similiar memorial. That's a lot of people, maybe not a majority, but enough people that those looking for votes have to be careful.

 

[John Z]

In a similar vein, what do you think about car window memorials? I've seen a few cars with stickered letters (usually on the back window) with something like "In loving memory of Joe Six Pack..." and the dates.

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by John Z
In a similar vein, what do you think about car window memorials? I've seen a few cars with stickered letters (usually on the back window) with something like "In loving memory of Joe Six Pack..." and the dates.

As long as they don't violate the law concerning visability for the operator, thereby creating a safety risk, I don't have a problem with them.

 

[Rane]

There are several "roadside memorials" all over Jacksonville, FL but not as many as here in SOMD ... whatever happened to the practice of taking leftover funeral flowers ( the smaller ones of course ) stuffed animals etc ... to hospitals for the sick( esp children ) to enjoy or home with family members, seems that's a much better way to honor a person's memory and put to good use flowers that cost a small fortune. JMO

 

[Elle]

Originally posted by John Z
In a similar vein, what do you think about car window memorials? I've seen a few cars with stickered letters (usually on the back window) with something like "In loving memory of Joe Six Pack..." and the dates.

I think they are a waste of money in most cases, they are too small to read unless you are parked and someone is walking right up to your vehicle. But then again most bumper/window stickers are so I'm impartial as long as it's not distracting your view.

 

[Gunn317]

I would have thought the roadside crews who mow would have gotten rid of these things when they come by. I never knew they could stay up indefinately. If on my property (which could never happen anyway), I'd leave it up for about a month, then that'd be enough. Just like my Christmas lights...up for a month, then put away.

 

[Dals_daddy]

I refuse to even try.

 

[bottoms up]

DD -- no offense, but I'd rather not remember a loved one mangled up on the side of the road. it's a visual that I just don't want to remember (if I saw it at all) or envision.

There are so many happier thoughts one can recall of a person than that.

Just my opinion.

 

[T.Rally]

Re: NO HEARTS

Originally posted by Dals_daddy
I am beginning to think that some of you have no heart!!! I mean honestly you want to know why these memorials are there, it is because people who have been killed on these roadways are being remembered. I agree totally with giggles on this, it is a way for people to say goodbye

Isn't that what the cemetary is for? The hardest thing about death, for the ones left behind is letting go. Pyschologically, the memorials can't be healthy. I lost my sister in law to a car accident and if my wife had to see a reminder of her sister every time she drove the road where whe was killed, she would be basket case.

 

[vraiblonde]

Instead of leaving junk at a crash site, why not pool your money and rent a billboard? Someone suggest adopting the road - I like that idea.

 

[Dals_daddy]

Nothing to say!!

 

[jlabsher]

I'm all for real flowers, but pix and teddy bears, and big crosses are too much. That is what cemeteries/memorial gardens are for. My dad died at a hospital, I do not, however feel compelled to place a garish memorial at the site.

May sound corny, but my loved ones are more than just physical entities, so I see no need to place a memorial at the site where their physical being ended. They live in my memories of them, and my memories don't need placement next to the Home Depot.

 

[vraiblonde]

Originally posted by Dals_daddy
when talking with children like yourself I need to bring it down to dummy terms.

Oh yeah, Mr. 4 Years Out Of High School. Cari didn't even slam you - all she did was disagree with your opinion.

 

[migtig]

Ya know, come to think of it, I have not seen any road side memorials in GA or NC. And what I mean by that is I have seen no little roadside offerings made to the deceased. However, I have seen some tasteful sculptures and even crosses from the highways and byways, but they were placed in memorium for someone, not at the "actual" location" of death. For example there is a gorgeous huge sculpture on I40 of an angfel with outstretched hands, placed almost at the top of a mountain, in memory of a man's who owns that particular property's daughter who died years and years ago. I also have seen three crosses off of the on ramp where I get gas in SC, but again they are rather large and on someone's private property - just visible from the road.
:shrug:

 

[bottoms up]

Re: Dead end

Originally posted by Dals_daddy
and that is not where the person died.

Would you go to the hospital if they died there? Or the nursing home (well after they passed as a way to remember them)? :shrug:

I just can't envision visiting a road side memorial (or the hospital, nursing home, whatever) where my loved one passed away or died in a tragic car accident and was thrown from a vehicle against a telephone pole as benefitting the grief process.

and that did happen to someone I know and I've never been to the site where it happened.