Tacky roadside death markers are HORRIBLE
There is no way any normal functioning person can defend the garbage piles they erect to mark the area where a fatality occurred.
They like to think they are making some significant plea for sympathy, but they are really being selfish and ridiculous. Its the "look at how much pain I'm in" spot on the road.....and ALWAYS filled with some of the cheapest, crappy looking, faded fake flowers or cross that took 15 minutes to make with scrap materials from the shed.
They can't plant a beautiful tree and put some mulch around it.....that doesn't quite nail down the full effect of their misery. They need tattered ribbon with some rain/sun drenched stuffed teddy bear with some stupid nickname spray painted on a bit of plywood.
They might go "high class" and get one of those glow in the dark crosses (I'm completely convinced those were made as a joke or for some low budget zombie movie and the creators were shocked to learn just how tacky red necks can be by buying them for their dead loved ones.)
I swear......if I go in some wreck....you guys PLEASE mark the spot with a giant cement gorilla......please......someone do this for me. Spray paint my name across it's chest too....no joke.....this needs to happen.
They like to think they are making some significant plea for sympathy, but they are really being selfish and ridiculous. Its the "look at how much pain I'm in" spot on the road.....and ALWAYS filled with some of the cheapest, crappy looking, faded fake flowers or cross that took 15 minutes to make with scrap materials from the shed.
They can't plant a beautiful tree and put some mulch around it.....that doesn't quite nail down the full effect of their misery. They need tattered ribbon with some rain/sun drenched stuffed teddy bear with some stupid nickname spray painted on a bit of plywood.
They might go "high class" and get one of those glow in the dark crosses (I'm completely convinced those were made as a joke or for some low budget zombie movie and the creators were shocked to learn just how tacky red necks can be by buying them for their dead loved ones.)
I swear......if I go in some wreck....you guys PLEASE mark the spot with a giant cement gorilla......please......someone do this for me. Spray paint my name across it's chest too....no joke.....this needs to happen.
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here in kansas it seems road deaths are marked by hispanic catholic style crosses with fake flowers....in town a mex teenager came ripping across the railroad track,went airborn, landed into a power pole inside the city limits and DRT...so now the cross, name and plastic flowers in the ditch immortalize that stupidity..????and the americanos seem to add to this also ??? 0 -
I think it is called freedom of speech
some may not have liked your hair do, but I totally respect your choice to wear it as you please0 -
quote:Originally posted by jwb267
I think it is called freedom of speech
some may not have liked your hair do, but I totally respect your choice to wear it as you please
Actually, no.....on your own property you can erect whatever garbage memorial you wish.....but it is illegal on the side of the public roadways.0 -
I have always made it a point to be extra attentive going by those marked places. While a lot of spots are at intersections where someone didn't stop or give right a way, many deaths seem to occur on straight stretches of road with no obstacles or obstructions.
L\F, your concrete gorilla statue would end up having multiple "notches" carved into it. For all the cars hitting a solid concrete gorilla![:D]0 -
Some U.S. states, such as Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin have banned roadside memorials entirely. Other states, such as Florida, Utah, and Washington, prohibit such ad hoc memorials but offer a state-approved alternative?a roadside sign that encourages motorists to drive safely and bearing the name of the deceased. (Surviving families must request and pay for the installation of these signs.) Delaware offers a memorial brick program in which survivors can pay to have the name of a loved one engraved on a brick that forms a memorial garden maintained by the state.
A few states, such as Alaska and West Virginia, have passed legislation that actually encourages surviving family members and friends to create/maintain roadside memorials0 -
Down here on the border, the dead are remembered with elaborate and (sometimes) well-designed Repuestas/Descansos. There could be an ancient wrought iron fence(and a gate!?) surrounding the spot in the median of an Interstate, just because the policy was to leave 'em there.
There's a spot a block from my house that marks where some shred of human debris was shot & killed while trying to steal a truck.
THAT'S what you're talking about; a simple cross, scratched into a piece of sandstone 18" x 10", stuck upright in the ground.
It lasted almost a year before it got replaced with a 4' tall 4'x4' wooden cross with a red/white/green drape across the front with some heiroglyphs and a name.
Then it started; prayer candles, Chinese plastic rosaries, stuffed toys, a framed picture of Johnny Tapia, sneakers, empty miniatures of Dark Eyes Vodka, condoms, syringes, even a full set of Lee Press-on Nails.
Always thought the graveyard was a final place, where none I think, do there embrace.0 -
Then there is this.... 
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quote:Originally posted by jwb267
Some U.S. states, such as Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin have banned roadside memorials entirely. Other states, such as Florida, Utah, and Washington, prohibit such ad hoc memorials but offer a state-approved alternative?a roadside sign that encourages motorists to drive safely and bearing the name of the deceased. (Surviving families must request and pay for the installation of these signs.) Delaware offers a memorial brick program in which survivors can pay to have the name of a loved one engraved on a brick that forms a memorial garden maintained by the state.
A few states, such as Alaska and West Virginia, have passed legislation that actually encourages surviving family members and friends to create/maintain roadside memorials
We have a Large one to a Police Officer who died on duty right hear in Oregon. It started with those tacky Flowers but now they have cleared the area and Planted trees. With a Marker. Right hear in Oregon. The road is now dedicated to him. Officer Chris Kilcullen. quote:In December 2011 The Section Of The Highway From The Bridge To Springfield Was Renamed Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Highway To Commemorate The Fallen Eugene Police Department Officer Who Was Fatally Wounded While Conducting A Traffic Stop On The Highway In April 2011.0 -
Make a buck #297
Instead, families can buy the placard for a one-time fee of $124 and for another $50 can personalize
the 4-square-foot area surrounding the memorial sign.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/2017/02/12/roadside-memorials-must-go-after-30-days/97765812/0 -
quote:Originally posted by jwb267
I think it is called freedom of speech
some may not have liked your hair do, but I totally respect your choice to wear it as you please
I personally would not erect a memorial to a dead loved one on the side of the road but I have learned that people handle grief in their on way. if it gives them comfort then why poo poo it?
I also personally don't like dreads on anybody but they are especially "tacky" on old people. IMO of course.
tacky -
jet black hair on obviously old people
hair pieces that used to belong to a 4 legged critter
old guys with shirts unbuttoned to the waist
men in public w/o shirts
fat women in anything too small0 -
Well I disagree with you LF. I like those roadside shrines, a nice memorial in honor of someone's deceased wife, or brother.
And I see lots and lots of 'em every day.0 -
see them all over some are just a plain wooden cross with the persons name and date .
I have mixed feelings as what is a tasteful marker or a pile of old items .
not far from us are several markers one is on a sharp s curve one curve is lined with trees, I would guess planted to protect the house many years ago the trees have many scars from being hit about ten years ago a kid was killed on a foggy dark night missed the curve hit the tree one was killed , for a short time it looked terrible with all the flowers and what not piled up on the tree ( in the yard of the owners ) they must have came to a solution as now its just a small concrete marker with some writing on it placed at the base of the tree . the other's have transformed into the above mentioned plain white cross . just a reminder and memorial
I have not been by but just a guess my grand niece was killed a few weeks ago her BF pulled into the path of a semi and she was killed . I would just about bet ther is one there0 -
I agree so are really stupid looking and tacky.
The 1st time I ever saw them was on MT in the early 80's.0 -
That's what cemeteries are for. 0 -
the dumbing down of America.
its very hindu in its origins.
had some of its roots in mountain climbing.
lefty's are trying to make it common in the usa. very common in 3rd world countries.
seems to be working.
it was suppose to remind us to be careful....but its backfiring.
agree...its what cemeteries are for.
fyi...roads are public domain. permits are required. that's what billboards are for.0 -
While I really don't pay much mind either way to the ones around here, I would hate to imagine what it would be like if EVERYONE that loses a loved one or friend in a vehicular incident decided to build one of these 'memorials.' You couldn't go a hundred yards without seeing a pile of rotting junk on the side of the road.
As others have said, remembrance belongs in a cemetery, and in the minds of the loved ones still living.
The memorials on car rear windows are very plentiful as well, but that's personal property, and a whole different ball game IMO.0 -
We got those dumbass markers all over the place. I do wonder how many of that are for people? Being in California I'm thinking where I see some might be for deer or maybe a coon or a pooch? If they're people the funeral joints are making it rain after hours.
Hindu in origin, huh? I reckon the Mexicans who prop them up must've converted from Catholicism. Can they do that and be kosher?0 -
not to mention the issue of highway maintainence mowing.... 0 -
Well here in NC they only last till the big tractor with the big mower comes along. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by jwb267
Some U.S. states, such as Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin have banned roadside memorials entirely. Other states, such as Florida, Utah, and Washington, prohibit such ad hoc memorials but offer a state-approved alternative?a roadside sign that encourages motorists to drive safely and bearing the name of the deceased. (Surviving families must request and pay for the installation of these signs.) Delaware offers a memorial brick program in which survivors can pay to have the name of a loved one engraved on a brick that forms a memorial garden maintained by the state.
A few states, such as Alaska and West Virginia, have passed legislation that actually encourages surviving family members and friends to create/maintain roadside memorials
In Montana the American Legion erects white crosses at the scene and there are signs entering the state informing travelers of this0 -
There is a HUGE difference between a memorial.....and a pile of wretched looking garbage. I've seen MAYBE one or two that actually looked decent.....the rest were plain eyesores to see. Its like those "in loving memory" stickers on cars.......has ANYONE ever seen one on a decent car.......I'm betting not.....I sure haven't.
Thats why I'm hoping that someone takes my plea for a Gorilla seriously.....really.....6' tall or better please.....my name across the chest..... If we are going to go tacky lets go all the way.0 -
Girl was killed driving to fast and no seat belt. Talk about a mess for her marker. They put her favorite power drink around it. They did not last long with the Eugene Mission just a block away. Route all the bums take to get a bed and a meal. Even saw one sleeping there. 0 -
Well, LF you don't want to go to Mexico. There are markers all over the place.
Of course the entire country is totally Catholic and they go Catholic to the Max with their roadside shrines. They will build a little stone or brick box, with a top, sides, and a back, and they will have a 10 inch portrait of Virgin Mary in ther, they will have pics of the deceased, plus plastic flowers, and almost always, a burning candle.
I mean, somebody is going over there twice a day to keep a burning candle in operation. Good God you see thousands of 'em in Mexico.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Locust Fork
There is a HUGE difference between a memorial.....and a pile of wretched looking garbage. I've seen MAYBE one or two that actually looked decent.....the rest were plain eyesores to see. Its like those "in loving memory" stickers on cars.......has ANYONE ever seen one on a decent car.......I'm betting not.....I sure haven't.
Thats why I'm hoping that someone takes my plea for a Gorilla seriously.....really.....6' tall or better please.....my name across the chest..... If we are going to go tacky lets go all the way.
Kasey, if you ever die in a car wreck like my wife did, I will go to the site of your accident and erect a big pile of turd where it happened in loving memory of you[:D][:D][;)][;)]
But seriously, everybody Grieves the way they want to, and who are you to say they can't do it the way they want and not the way you want?
seems to me you're pretty narcissistic telling people what they can and cannot erect in the memory of their loved ones. I always thought you were a conservative and not a liberal. But This Thread has proven me wrong.
At the site where my wife died, the state of Utah erected a sign that said "In loving Memory of Monica **** *****"
I hope that it meets with your approval.... NOT!
But if you only took a half a second to think who erected those as you call them tacky memorials, you would realize that the vast majority of them was done at the request of the survivors little children who could not afford to buy a whole lot, and that raggedy-ass teddy bear out there was their prized possession that they wanted to give to their deceased mother or father that died in the wreck...
Me personally, I think it's very sweet that they do that for their dead mothers and fathers. And I don't view it as a pile of garbage, I view it as a little child's prized position sitting out there watching over their deceased mother and father...0 -
Grieving is horrible.....but turning the world into a roaming unkempt graveyard is NOT a proper response to that grief.....how sympathetic is the public supposed to be.....how long is long enough.....how bad can the trashy mess get before a person grieving has to realize that it is an unfit tribute to a lost loved one?
I know of one place there was a wooden cross that was pretty large. Someone kept hanging mess all over it......flowers, stuffed animals, it was constantly decorated for MANY years. I felt bad for the people that had to turn on that road. It finally stopped and nothing is there now. I'm guessing it lasted 10 years or more.0 -
Not too far from my house a memorial is erected in a ditch along side a busy highway intersection where a fugitive was killed in a shootout with Deputies, he had earlier that day shot and killed a cop after committing some other serious crime. His family really takes pride in its appearance by re-working it every 2 years as it weathers/fades away quickly into a junk pile. Where, when & who draws the line ??......I agree with every word LF has written and share her feelings on this subject, we must be kin-folk [:)] 0 -
lets just do away with all kinds of "signs". political, yard sale.etc[;)] 0 -
If it lessen the pain of someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one I think we all can show a little compassion 0 -
quote:Originally posted by austin20
If it lessen the pain of someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one I think we all can show a little compassion
My thoughts exactly, Austin. I don?t understand erecting one, but if it helps someone who is hurting, more power to them.
There was one that I thought odd, however. Someone had taken a large stuffed Panda bear and tied it to a light post with a cord around its neck. I looked like a lynching, to be honest, and was happy to see it removed.0 -
I think it is beyond disgusting and disgraceful that someone would publicly, on a national forum, mock another person's grief.
Not everyone can afford to "plant a tree and put some mulch around it". Not everyone can go "high class". Especially after the shock, pain, and funeral expenses, etc. I think any outburst of grief and remembrance is to be cherished and sympathized with.
And a Teddy bear with a "stupid" nickname to YOU is a sweet, loving, never-to-be-replaced memory of a loved one for someone else. Shame on you for denigrating that. My guess is it didn't start out "tattered and rain/sun drenched".
Selfish and ridiculous? Look in the mirror. "Garbage piles"? Shame on you! This is one of the worst things I have seen in months.
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