Roadside Memorials

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

How do you feel about them?

I personally think they are a distraction, though I do understand them, I guess....it does make you "think" when you are speeding around a curve, when you glance at one by the big oak tree at the base of the curve...I just hate to see them when they look like "crap" because they have been there for some time and nobody bothers to take "care" of them.

Are they legal in all 50 states?

Please feel free to discuss.

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[PLFXpert 0]

I'm usually driving too fast to notice them

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[yardhippie 0]

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I'm usually driving too fast to notice them

Agreed. if youre looking at those things you're more likely to become one yourself.

Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

[PsychoBob 0]

I don't see why people have to put up the roadside memorials. They are a distraction and become an eyesore.

Along the same lines, I don't know why people put the "in Memory of" on the back windows of their cars and trucks.

In my opinion a vehicle is a really shitty way to memorialize someone.

"I'm not a gynecologist but I will take a look at it"
RB #1295, Smokey Sister #1, HellFish #658, Dirty Sanchez #194, Muff Brothers #3834, POPS #9614, Orfun Foster-Parent?"

[yardhippie 0]

awww come on!
I just think its sweet when someone covers the entier back window of the 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier with "in loving memory of ....."

now thats class.

Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

"Along the same lines, I don't know why people put the "in Memory of" on the back windows of their cars and trucks. "


Ooooh this drives me ....like when Dale Ernhart died, everyone and their mother had something put on their car.....gag

I don't get it.

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[popsjumper 2]

Somebody is going to post the "Free Cat" memorial sign.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

"In my opinion a vehicle is a really shitty way to memorialize someone."


Yeah! Get a Tattoo instead!'Cause you'll never trade your body in...

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[cocheese 0]

I don't like them. Think they are a hazard. If everyone that died had a permanent shrine somewhere on this planet, there would be nowhere to land. Thats why we creamate and go under ground.

[RastaRicanAir 0]

Whaddaya mean?! It's a GREAT way to memorialize somebody. I know if I ever bounce, I want a big blunt object right in the middle of the landing area for folks to remember me by.

There should be a fund where families can throw in $100/each and buy a billboard to promote safe driving instead. They can start with the one on GA316 that just says "JESUS" now.
It's misguided sentimentalism turned into litter. Then again, so are graveyards. It's wasteful, totally outdated superstition to set aside land for a bunch of bones. Just dig all those f*cking boxes up and plant corn for starving children. You can enshrine your loved ones in your living room.

OrFunV/LocoBoca Rodriguez/Sonic Grieco/Muff Brother #4411
-"and ladies....messin with Robbie is venturing into territory you cant even imagine!-cuz Robbie is

[MrBrant 0]

I don't mind them.

Driving along, and you see a nice wreath on the side of the road, just makes you think...

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

"You can enshrine your loved ones in your living room."


Yeah like the dude that built a coffee table to "house" his deceased wifes body....now that my friend, is true love!
Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[PLFXpert 0]

I'm not so sure about that. I expect there will be a shrine in my honor when I pass.

I'm loved, you know

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[GTAVercetti 0]

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Then again, so are graveyards. It's wasteful, totally outdated superstition to set aside land for a bunch of bones. Just dig all those f*cking boxes up and plant corn for starving children. You can enshrine your loved ones in your living room.

I totally concur. Cremate me and toss me out. I don't need the body anymore.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

"Driving along, and you see a nice wreath on the side of the road, just makes you think..."


Yeah...its a real buzz kill.





Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[cocheese 0]

Total buzz kill.

[yardhippie 0]

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Total buzz kill.

I hate it when I lose my buzz!

Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

[wildcard451 0]

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Somebody is going to post the "Free Cat" memorial sign.

As requested.

[PrairieDoug 0]

The Washington Post had an article about roadside memorials this week that was prompted by a decision to remove memorials that are considered a safety hazard.

I think that memorials which meet some safety guidelines should be allowed for a short period following an accident, but not left indefinitely. The site where someone was lost can have significance to family members.

[turtlespeed 226]

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"In my opinion a vehicle is a really shitty way to memorialize someone."


Yeah! Get a Tattoo instead!'Cause you'll never trade your body in...

Bobbi

No - no trade in - but I'll sell it.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

This is just me.....This is just an IF...but if someone from my family got creamed along a certain road...I would avoid that road at all costs....my dog got hit by, of all things a logging truck...I didn't make a left onto that road for a very long time...I don't think I would want to be reminded of it day in and day out...If I want to remember, I will go look at a photo album with happy pics, not skid marks and blood stains.

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[GARYC24 3]

I really don't have an opinion of them myself, I see them like anyone else, however there have been 1 or 2 that have been put up after I have drove by the day/night fatal accident occured at.

Here's an artcle I found: (unknown how old this is)

Over the years, Al's Morning Meeting has come back to this topic a few times, but the issue just keeps growing. Relatives and loved ones of people killed in traffic crashes insist on building roadside memorials. Some states are reluctant to discourage them, while others are much more aggressive about clearing right-of-ways of clutter and distractions. In the last five years, The New York Times said, the number of states regulating roadside shrines has doubled -- and now nearly half of all states have roadside memorial laws on the books.

The New York Times reported:

Some, like Montana and California, allow the memorials, but only if alcohol was a factor in the crash.



Others, like Wisconsin and New Jersey, limit how long the memorials can remain in place. Now, in a move that is being watched by other states, Delaware is taking a different approach, establishing a memorial park near a highway exit in hopes of discouraging the roadside shrines.



The park will include a reflection pool and a mosaic of red bricks -- provided free to the loved ones of highway accident victims -- with inscriptions honoring the dead.



Just 20 years ago, such intervention by states was unheard of, said Arthur Jipson, who has studied laws governing the memorials and is director of the criminal justice studies program at the University of Dayton in Ohio. Now, Jipson said, 22 states have such legislation, and the number has more than doubled in the past five years.



The efforts, however, have forced local officials into a delicate balancing act. "Governments are reluctant to tell people what to feel or how to mourn," Jipson said. "At the same time, it's their job to keep these spaces public."



The popularity of the memorials has spawned a cottage industry on the Internet with Web sites like roadsidememorials.com, selling mail-order crosses to families that do not want to construct their own. Roadside Memorials warns customers that it "will not be responsible for any accidents or injuries due to the placement of your cross."

For some, the markers are poignant reminders to drive slowly and a small price to pay to help ease the anguish of loss. But to others, they are macabre eyesores and dangerous distractions that invite rubbernecking and visitors to already hazardous roads.



Highway officials also say that the memorials frequently get in the way of road crews cutting grass or clearing snow. Other critics challenge their legality.



"For us, the memorials raise serious church-state constitutional concerns because they usually feature religious symbols and are placed on state property," said Robert Tiernan, a lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin, who successfully defended a Denver man who was arrested in 2001 after removing a religious roadside memorial.

[popsjumper 2]

I always stop to check them out..sometimes people leave money! and you can get free killer bouquets for Valentine's Day.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[DJL 235]

There's one on the way to the DZ that's been there for over 5 years now. I think it's kind of distracting because it's on a part of the road that's fun to speed on because it has lots of turns. Then I pass it and if there's something new I try to see what it is and almost ran off the road one time.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[briguy 0]

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Ooooh this drives me ....like when Dale Ernhart died, everyone and their mother had something put on their car.....gag

you live in the south, dontcha?

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