Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why would you want to memorialize where your loved one was violently killed, as if that was the sum total of their life? To me this practice is barbaric.
Why would you want to memorialize where your loved one was violently killed, as if that was the sum total of their life? To me this practice is barbaric.
I lost a few friends in high school to car accidents. One of them has a large memorial right outside our school where she was killed. Her parents found it comforting to honor her memory by placing a cross, small flower garden, and a plaque where she was found. It's been over 20 years now and the memorial is still going strong.
I don't understand why people take issue with memorials. There are more important things to worry about in life.
I think they're endearing as they are a way for loved ones to remember a death - in particular, a sudden and unexpected one - of someone they once knew. I have seen some memorials that are maintained and some that disappear over the natural course of time, as most will eventually. We're only here for so long, so if the people who knew the victim/s want to use some of that time to honor them, I'm okay with that.
I think traffic deaths in general are some of the most tragic ones as they are accidents, whether they could have been prevented or they are unintentional, but especially the latter. In fact, if I wasn't a peon who had to work for a living, I would drive around the country and organically find these markers - that is to say, not intentionally seek them out - and do stories on the victim/s by interviewing their families and friends. Since these are public displays, their loved ones want the victim's/s' memories preserved, which is different from a traditional burial, and I'd write about their lives in either a book or upload documentary style as a YouTube series.
I don't understand why people take issue with memorials.
Because sometimes they get out of hand. You might find this old thread on the topic interesting; lots of pros and cons on the subject of roadside memorials are mentioned.
If you are hammered, you get nailed (seen in Phoenix last week).
That's a good one. Back in the 80s when I had to go to Florida a lot, you would see a smashed-up car on platform on a corner with a sign that kids were killed in that car because of drunk driving. Don't know if they still do that.
Yeah. I think it all really started after the death of Princess Diana and became a trend since. People saw the enormous memorial on the news and decided that's something to adapt and follow.
Some are like a holy shrines - people come to it. They talk to the post or a cross, as if they're really talking to a person.
I've seen people actually go to it and kneel down and pray. I've seen guys who are drinking beer or wine, pour it right on the ground as if they're giving that person a drink. Probably celebrating a death of drunk driver.
Some are huge and elaborate with candles, flowers, balloons, pictures, sometimes toys are added for years to no end. Older stuff already deteriorated by weather, scattered by the wind or animals. No one cleans it or dare to remove anything.
I think counties don't have any laws or ordinances.
They are quite often dotting the urban or rural landscape, marking the deaths of innocent children, adults, traffic accidents and such.
In my old country overseas, I see sometimes a makeshift cross marking someone's death on a roads ditch. Perhaps a wreath and few flowers.
Not attended or growing in size.
Nothing so elaborate like here. A simple marker, I would say, that will disappear after few years.
And usually only in rural areas.
I think it's OK to mark a spot of crime, to honor the victim, as a memorial and a reminder. But such spots should be short lived and removed after a while.
And I kind of agree with the author of this article: https://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes....als-be-banned/
That's a good one. Back in the 80s when I had to go to Florida a lot, you would see a smashed-up car on platform on a corner with a sign that kids were killed in that car because of drunk driving. Don't know if they still do that.
When I was a teen in a small midwestern town two teen couples were out joy riding in their convertible on the highway nearby, rounded a bend and went underneath a flatbed tractor-trailer that was backing across the highway. All four were decapitated.
The car, blood and all, was placed in the center of town for a couple of days as a warning to other kids who might want to get hammered while driving.
I don't know how effective it was. I was one of those who would never do something like that in a million years anyway.
I also wonder how many young children it traumatized.
I think it's OK to mark a spot of crime, to honor the victim, as a memorial and a reminder. But such spots should be short lived and removed after a while.
And I kind of agree with the author of this article: https://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes....als-be-banned/
I don’t think roadside memorials necessarily need to be banned, but I do think they should be subject to the same sort of time/place/manner restrictions that other displays on public property have to follow. A safe, reasonable-sized and temporary memorial located where it doesn’t pose any sort of safety threat is fine, but squatting indefinitely on public property is not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
