Not something I'm mad about. Just something I've never understood.

If someone say dies in a crash. Typically you have a cemetery or etc for a memorial or final resting place. Why Road Side memorials?..

These are just such a strange phenomenon that I've never understood the human need to create. UNLESS: It's a warning to other drivers. Say a blind curve or something where people tend to fly off the road on motorcycles or something. I might understand that as a warning to others.

An interesting practice that became an “issue” in Colorado some years ago.

There was a guy who would pick up the crosses, artificial flowers, etc., and dispose of them. When challenged, he said he was just cleaning roadside litter that shouldn’t be there. There was some claim that they tended to attract attention and distract drivers, especially in places where they should be paying attention to the road, and not a memorial.

That of course raised the ire of the people who put them there, and although I don’t know if it was in direct response, now Colorado has a program that allows people to have “official” memorial signs put up.

I do sometimes wonder, though, how people get killed in some of the places I see them. Was it a drunk driver who crossed the centerline or did someone fall asleep?

On the other hand, on one stretch of road I drive frequently there is no guardrail on a downhill curve next to an almost-vertical drop into a deep ravine. I know that a motorcyclist ran off the road and was killed there some years ago, but there’s no memorial or sign. On a somewhat similar stretch of road elsewhere there is a specific warning sign for motorcyclists.

quote:

Was it a drunk driver

When I was a kid (8), I remember my Dad taking us on a ride to where my Uncle (his brother) was killed after partying with his friends. He was home on leave from the Navy and was killed in a car accident. His friend, the driver, was intoxicated.

It was the first time I'd seen a roadside memorial. It had some flowers, an American flag, and a Navy flag. I'll never forget it!

The American Legion chapters in Montana have been putting up white crosses at the sites of traffic fatalities since the '50s. While I rather like them, some people (presumably family members) do get carried away with decorating them.

Growing up in Michigan in the 50’s and 60’s I don’t recall ever seeing those until I traveled in the west in ‘62. Usually in the mountains.

Living in New Mexico in the late 70’s to late 80’s they were commonplace. Now not uncommon in Michigan today.

Sad part about those in New Mexico, at least one or two I remembered due to being on the response crew to the crash.

Seems like a great idea, stopping roadside where there may be increased likelihood of an accident and wandering around putting up something that in most cases will deteriorate without further care and be in the way for ROW maintenance.

They are very common in So. Az. More so in some areas obviously. I don't have a problem with them. They show me that somebody cares about the loss.

In memory of Mr. Howard Drake.

Mashed the gas, not the brake.

We have makeshift roadside memorials like that in Indiana. Not a ton, but every now and then you'll see them. Some are pretty basic, some are decorated with enough ribbons, flowers and stuffed animals to rival a hindu shrine.

I'm in South Dakota right now and there are official looking signs everywhere with Xs on them, that I assume mark the location of traffic fatalities, just because of how they're placed (mostly at curves, intersections, etc, and sometimes they're clustered together in groups). Kinda odd, but somebody must have decided that they're affective.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:

In memory of Mr. Howard Drake.

Mashed the gas, not the brake.

Quite common around here

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:

In memory of Mr. Howard Drake.

Mashed the gas, not the brake.

Do not pass on

a curve or a hill

If cops don't get you

Morticians will!

Burma Shave!

At one time people went to cemetery for that sort of thing. Now they incinerate their family and I guess don’t want a parade coming through the house to view the urn.

I’ve given my family some friendly advice, you do that to me I will haunt you for the rest of time. SD has the right idea, be careful, people die in accidents.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Sad part about those in New Mexico, at least one or two I remembered due to being on the response crew to the crash.

Having worked EMS for 15ish years, I understand. There's still one or two that I find it very difficult to drive past...one of which I witnessed as I was behind the vehicle hit. Two teenaged girls dead...despite my/our efforts. Every time I go by there I'm taken back to that night. The sights, the smell of fuel, antifreeze, blood.... I'm not a big believer in many/most PTSD claims, but I understand some of them.

There was one put up on the highway for a young lady who was killed crossing the two-lane road. Located just outside of my hometown, it kept getting refreshed and stayed in place for a few years. I had to admire the dedication to keeping it up.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Sad part about those in New Mexico, at least one or two I remembered due to being on the response crew to the crash.

Having worked EMS for 15ish years, I understand. There's still one or two that I find it very difficult to drive past...one of which I witnessed as I was behind the vehicle hit. Two teenaged girls dead...despite my/our efforts. Every time I go by there I'm taken back to that night. The sights, the smell of fuel, antifreeze, blood.... I'm not a big believer in many/most PTSD claims, but I understand some of them.

I was one of the medics that worked on a co-worker I had relieved at the Fire Station 20 minutes earlier.
It took me several months to not look at that spot in a random 7-11 parking lot, since we drove past that spot a dozen times a day.
Taking pts to the hospital, returning to the station, going to and coming back from training…it was CONSTANT.

Then one time we drove past and I was preoccupied by something trivial. It hit me one block later.
I didn’t look at the spot where David died!

I finally had enough time pass to briefly let it go.
It felt like progress.

I still remember vividly if I want to and I still have a copy of David’s EKG as it slowed more and more to a pulseless rhythm then asystole.
We never set up any kind of “memorial” where he passed. It was wasn’t done back in those days.

I don't see the point in them. Same way with these stickers in the back window of cars with RIP and the name and death date. Are they in the trunk? Maybe that is just me but we have cemeteries for lost loved ones.

The road leading to Fort Irwin is full of these. (I worked there as a civilian from 1997-2000.)



The flowers and other objects placed on the crosses fall into disrepair.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Fort Irwin

I spent the month of August '89 there. If I needed another reason to not become an Army lifer? That was it.

To be fair, the desert is a beautiful place from 2100 to 0900, and in the winter. Any other time? You can have it.

Never saw any growing up in the Midwest, but they're everywhere in New Mexico. They're even protected by state law.

A. A person shall not knowingly or willfully deface or destroy, in whole or in part, a descanso, also known as a memorial, placed alongside a public road right of way to memorialize the death of one or more persons.

B. A person who violates the provisions of Subsection A of this section is:
(1) for a first offense, guilty of a petty misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978; and
(2) for a second and subsequent offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.