How long should a roadside memorial stay up?

[StL FinFan]

I thought I was in the minority in hating those.    There is one near where I live, a telephone pole very near the road that has had plastic flowers on it which are changed out when they get old.  It has been there for at least 4 years.

[SCFinfan]

I'm unsure of how I feel on this.  I think it's unnecessarily harsh to call a person's memorial to their loved one, wherever it may be placed, "glorified littering."  On the other hand, I can see how they'd be a bit of a visual nuisance.  They do, after all, take your eyes off the cars in front of you and onto the cross or wreath on the side of the road.  I think the closest you can come to laying down some sort of guiding principles in this area would be to say: "allow it, unless it becomes so excessive as to be hazardous to ongoing traffic."

Also, does anyone think that a cross placed on government property (a roadway) like this may violate the establishment clause?

[Dave Gray]

^^

I don't.  As anti-religion as I am, the thing about this that concerns me isn't that it's a cross.  That doesn't bother me at all. 

I just think that putting crap on the side of the road of public property is against the law.  That goes for memorials, political signs, trash, etc.  I appreciate some people's motives more than others, but the result is the same....garbage next to the street.

[SCFinfan]

I don't think I can go there with ya, Dave.  Calling a memorial "garbage" is pretty harsh.

[Phishfan]

Although it sounds harsh, I agree completely. Look at the picture that was posted. There is nothing attractive about that memorial. It is basically litter on the roadside.

[bsmooth]

Putting a temporary cross is one thing, but when you put up names and candles and turn the area into a little shrine, that is beyond creepy. Plus when you put up visual distractions on a bad stretch of road that people need to be paying attention too, you are contributing to the problem. How is endangering other drivers honoring your loved one?

[Tenshot13]

It's only a distraction if your eating a cheeseburger and talking on your cell phone when you look over.

[simeon]

I see both sides to this issue. I would hate to be the one who lost someone I loved in a car crash, but I know I would never build any shrine where they died, talk about bad memories. I think theres better ways to honor those we love who passed, like talking about the great memories we have. The person who passed could care less about any shrine on a roadside. I find it odd to build shrines to the dead and its creepy too, but people grieve in different ways. When do roadside shrines become a nuisance and a safety hazard? I mean if it gets way out of control think of the shrines that will be in one spot because of it. A law should be passed every Jan 1st all shrines will be dismantled and destroyed, anyone being a repeat offender building shrines will be fined.

[landlocked]

I agree with Hoodie.There was a horrible wreck near here about 9 years ago.This stupid 16 year old kid was driving like 100 mph on hwy 52 coming towards town when he passed a car on the shoulder,came back onto the road and couldn't stay in his lane and hit a couple with a kid in their vehicle head on........8 people died.The kid had 3 teens from the same family in his car(his girlfriend and her little brother and sister)all dead.I know their mother,she almost had to be institutionalized.She lost 3 kids all at once.They put up a roadside memorial that stayed pretty much intact for 5 or 6 years,and never did I not think of my own kids and slow down a little when I passed it.Sure,it was a nuisance sometimes,when I was trying to get someplace and traffic was slowed to a crawl because people were stopping or looking.But if one person slows down,just one thinks twice and doesn't get killed,it's worth it.Yes they sometimes look tacky,but that's not hurting me any.I say leave em up!