Roadside Memorials

[attackatdawn]

In Minnesota once in awhile you will see roadside memorials (crosses, flowers, stuffed animals etc...) where someone has died from a accident. In South Dakota all over the state they have signs that say THINK with a X on them. I think it is a good idea, there is one along the highway about 20 miles from where I live a grandpa, grandma & grandson were killed when a semi truck slammed into them. The family has a really nice memorial along the road, handmade crosses, flowers they have kept it up for about 10 years

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/rant/descansos.html

[onehunglow]

The Dr. who delivered my Brother had two Sons back in the 50's. One Friday night after a football game the 16 & 18 year old kids were in a car with 3 other Kids all their fathers were Docs as well. There were all drunk and it was a foggy night. A semi missed a turn and was making a U turn in the road. They came over the hill at somewhere around 120 and went under the truck. Sorry Jane M. they beat ya. Anyway they were all killed. Bad scene at the hospital. Anyway he set up a tombstone right next to where it happened and a trust to maintain it. After he got all his affairs in order he did himself in.

[firegilnotguns]

Yeah, people do in Glasgow...but it's usually from stabbings and such rather than car accidents. Anyway, people almost always put the deceased favourite football (soccer) team's tops up wherever the person was killed (either Rangers or Celtic...it's a big deal about who you support here because of religious reasons...I don't really want to get into that though!), along with flowers and whathaveyou.

[Aries65]

I know they are all over the place in California when a gang menber gets killed on a street corner somewhere - flowers, teddy bears, candles and bottles of booze (nice combination...)

And I've also seen them on the sides of the roads for accidents. I think in certain counties they are only allowed to stay up for a certain amount of time before the city cleans it up.

When I was in England back in April, they had signs on the side of the road (in Nottinghamshire) about not to speed - so you wouldn't be the next "memorial" on the side of the road and had a picture of a bouquet of flowers on it. Damn, I wish I could remember what they said! I was pretty amazed by them, since I had never seen anything like that.

Anyone from England know what I'm talking about???

[firegilnotguns]

When I was in England back in April, they had signs on the side of the road (in Nottinghamshire) about not to speed - so you wouldn't be the next "memorial" on the side of the road and had a picture of a bouquet of flowers on it. Damn, I wish I could remember what they said! I was pretty amazed by them, since I had never seen anything like that.

Anyone from England know what I'm talking about???

I'm not in England but have driven there quite a bit (more than in Scotland, actually) and we tend to have the same signs in Scotland, anyway...don't recall ever seeing those - maybe they're unique to Nottinghamshire? Would be interested in seeing them!

[Spencemom]

Yes, we have them in Florida. But when I lived in Pennsylvania, law makers where trying to put a ban on them due to the fact that they said they were a distraction to motorists.

[susalu]

lots of them in Colorado and New Mexico. i think a lot of them are for immigrants...

[Lifeisafataldisease]

We have them here in Australia, lots near where I live on the Princes Highway 22 people in 18 months killed on this particular section of the highway.

[auguststar]

I see them a lot here in Missouri and all around Illinois. Ages ago I found a website that the author would find a post pictures of the crosses and then do what he could to research and post the stories along with it. I'll have to go find the site again, though it hadn't been updated for awhile back when I first found it.

[Mavros]

lots of them in Colorado and New Mexico. i think a lot of them are for immigrants...

These are very common in Arizona, too... mostly car accidents.

I have usually thought this to be a mostly Hispanic ritual ('cause I'm here...) But I remember that in the last small town I lived in (in another state, where immigrants are scarce) the people there did the same thing.

I'm not sure if it's a "Church" thing, or a "Love" thing, but many "Roadside Monuments" are maintained for a very long time.

[Boxofpandoraz]

When I was fifteen, a young boy I used to babysit was hit by a car and killed. The accident took place directly across the street from his house.

The house was on the corner of a very busy stretch of road, 45 MPH speed limit and very few stop signs. He was in the front yard (no fence) playing catch with his father when the ball rolled out into the street and stopped on the shoulder on the opposite side. Ryan went to retrieve the ball and was struck by a pickup truck doing well above the speed limit, his body was dragged quite a distance, and from what I understand he was already gone when help arrived. As for the driver - He never stopped. To this day, I'm pretty sure there is no idea as to who this person was or why he just kept going...

Ryan's mother and family put out a memorial. A cross, some flowers and toys, and a guest book so that people who stopped could leave notes. It was there for many years, but after driving by there myself recently, I found that it's been removed. I don't know if that means that the family finally moved away from that house or not...but I always thought of how difficult it must have been for them to have that constant reminder every time they left their home or even looked out the window.

[TrueBlueAngel]

Yes, we have memorials in UK where someone has been killed. Usually find they are there on anniversary dates too.

[Littleroben]

When I was in England back in April, they had signs on the side of the road (in Nottinghamshire) about not to speed - so you wouldn't be the next "memorial" on the side of the road and had a picture of a bouquet of flowers on it. Damn, I wish I could remember what they said! I was pretty amazed by them, since I had never seen anything like that.

Anyone from England know what I'm talking about???

Haven't seen any of those, but will keep an eye out.

There are memorials all over the place, generally these seem to be flowers at the side of the road.

[xenaswolf]

Yep they have them in MT, the state used to put them up for accident victims. But as stated earlier, the law thought that it was distracting and causing more accidents so no more state ones were put up. Didn't stop regular folks. I know counting them kept me awake on long drives.
Here in WA there are ones regular folks put up and the ones the state puts up on Don't Drink and Drive signs. Under the message it says in memory of....insert name.

[knothere]

there's one around the corner that's been kept up for 5 years now
it would help if the lights there would give you enuff time to x the road

[joplinfrk]

Yes, Phoenix and most of Arizona is littered with them.

[onehunglow]

When I was fifteen, a young boy I used to babysit was hit by a car and killed. The accident took place directly across the street from his house.

The house was on the corner of a very busy stretch of road, 45 MPH speed limit and very few stop signs. He was in the front yard (no fence) playing catch with his father when the ball rolled out into the street and stopped on the shoulder on the opposite side. Ryan went to retrieve the ball and was struck by a pickup truck doing well above the speed limit, his body was dragged quite a distance, and from what I understand he was already gone when help arrived. As for the driver - He never stopped. To this day, I'm pretty sure there is no idea as to who this person was or why he just kept going...

Ryan's mother and family put out a memorial. A cross, some flowers and toys, and a guest book so that people who stopped could leave notes. It was there for many years, but after driving by there myself recently, I found that it's been removed. I don't know if that means that the family finally moved away from that house or not...but I always thought of how difficult it must have been for them to have that constant reminder every time they left their home or even looked out the window.

After those I would go home and have a tripple and just hold my kids.

[Harry in Connecticut]

I go by one each day I drive to work. A young gay man was run down, and the killer was never found.

There are a few others around this area.

[EricaNeese]

I live in Ky and there is crosses all over the roads here and in Indiana. Some peoples families have even planted flowers at the site of the crashes.

[DietCokeofEvil]

We get that a lot in Wisconsin. They are trying to pass a law to limit the amount of time for memorials to be up. I like the idea of the Think sign tho..

[Mavros]

Yes, Phoenix and most of Arizona is littered with them.

Yes, you take your life into your own hands driving here.

[shellileigh]

Here in Texas we do. We have one specially for a Police Officer killed in line of duty due a drunk driver. Also my cousins were killed in accident the family put up a memorial cross in their honor.

[susalu]

Some states have laws now where you can have an official metal sign up for a certain amount of time, especially if the death involved drunk driving... seems like in Nebraska I have seen those... They have a broken heart on them... (or was it Wyoming?)

The first "homemade" roadside memorials I ever saw was in New Mexico many years ago.... The trend seems to have spread all over the US...

[Danny62]

In Salt Lake its 90 minutes to Wendover Nevada and its a pretty boring stretch of road. I see ton's of memorials where cars crashed.

I mean when you live in Utah and gambling is only 90 minutes away you get a feel for how much traffic that road gets!!!


My Dads best friend who was a stock car racer died years ago on a trip to Wendover.

[Gardner32]

I live on a stretch of very dangerous highway (67) there are many accidents and lots of memorials. They have started taking them down within a few weeks now. They are supposedly distractions. At one time I was going to do a pictorial, too late now.

[magblax]

Yes, Phoenix and most of Arizona is littered with them.

This is the truth!!! All over the place. They sell the trinkets and candles at grocery stores (mostly hispanic ones). That way if you have to run to the store to pick up some milk it's one stop shopping.

[lulu]

I saw some last week on the A14. There were 2 or 3 plaques of flowers with the name "Pete" on them.

Also saw a shirt on a hanger under a bridge somewhere near Oxford with a wreath underneath. I'm assuming someone died there, or it was some homeless person's closet.

I always feel uncomfortable going pass those places, don't know why.

[Lobsters]

Down here in Arkansas we have them EVERYWHERE.
Then inevitably you get the larger road signs that say "SEE! SO AND SO DIED HERE BECAUSE THIS ROAD SUCKS!" (or something to that affect....usually also a PRAISE JESUS or two on there)


Our roads are BAD here!

[Guest]

here in Washington State there are many roadside memorials as well as signs that have been sponsored by families of those killed by drunk drivers or high speeds...the ones I find the saddest are the ones for the kids that were abducted and killed usually set up in the families front yard or the school the kids went to...there are also a couple of homes in my neighborhood who have lost family in Iraq and they have put granite memorials and have had tree planting ceremonies and dedications.

[beautygirlsmom]

I've seen them here in Jersey. I thought FL had outlawed them and made it so you could only put those metal posts up. The roadside memorials are distractions. We had one not far from us, and I swear I saw people driving off the road while trying to read some of the signs and stuff that accumulated there.

[Cathy J.]

They have them all over the place here in Illinois. There is one I pass every day. The kid died over 10 years ago and someone is still decorating and putting balloons on the site every week. There is a guy (Greg Zanis) in my area that makes these crosses and puts them up. It doesn't matter if the family asks or not. If you ask me he's kind of annoying. He caused a big problem when he put up crosses in Colorado for the kids at Columbine. He put one up for each kid plus two for the killers. The parents were pissed and tore down the crosses for the killers. A couple of months ago a guy allegedly killed his wife and kids along a frontage road near Joliet. Greg put up crosses in front of the house. The problem was that the people were Jewish and the family didn't like that the crosses were put up.

I think they are a little creepy. I would never want to visit a place were a family member was killed. My brother died in January and I wouldn't want to visit and lay flowers in the garage were he died.

Speaking about Columbine, until about 2 years ago we got local Denver TV here in Virginia ( I heard it was Dish Network's idea to promote Colorado since they are based out there ). I remember watching a news report from there saying there was a plan on renaming several streets in Littleton, Co after the victims of Columbine. Did this ever happened?

Back in 1983 we had an fire here in Virginia where 2 young girls died. Their mother left them at home so she could go to a nightclub with her friends. It was a cold night and one of the girls lit a candle and you can guess what happened next.

The townhouse where the fire took place was soon rebuilt and a new family moved in. For years and years afterward people kept placing teddy bears, dolls and crosses on their doorstep until the family who lived there placed an ad in the local newspaper telling people to please stop it.

[RubySlippers]

Yes. But sometimes people (or the City) take them down. They say it distracting. Still others don't like the idea of crosses being used. A religion thing I guess. Around where I live you can buy a sign that says" In memory of..." They put it around where a car accident was and teddy bears and or flowers appear which works for me... It is really the Living that need to be comforted, you know. Anyways, it seems to remind people to slow down. I believe the family pays for such things...

[PiggyTx]

Yes, mainly in south texas. There's a high hispanic community, but dont know if that's why. I dont want to sound mean, but I never understood why they do that. NO disrespect at all..just curious as to why they do that.

[Laurie]

VERY common in southern California. So common that when we took the family to Boston, my eldest saw a bouquets of flowers on a street corner and replied, "Oh look! How sad!

She was pointing to a flower vender.

[I see dead people]

Over the summer we took a road trip from Cali, through Nevada, Idaho Oregon Washington and back to Cali, I can't tell you how many of those thingyz we saw. In Oregon there was a "place" where a bunch of firefighters died in a van, there were ten or so crosses there, very depressing! Eventually, every road in the world will be fighting for cross space.

Does anyone see the ones on Malibu Canyon? There are two and they are right next to a cliff, like someone went over it, so creepy!!!!! Just another reason I hate going to the Valley.

[RoRo]

We are often called the buckle of the bible belt and we have these memorials al over the place. I guess if it helps the family heal great...but personally it creeps me out to pass em all the time. We also get ALOT of jesus is coming signs.

[Guest]

Yes alot of people put up RS memorials here. I have one made up for my Neice in MO.

[amaranthaseven]

We have them around here in Mass, too. I see flashes of white crosses by the side of most highways here often.

The one down the street from me is for a 16 year old who was struck by a car while roller blading in the street. Every holiday and birthday there are new flowers and decorations; very heart-rending. I look at it every time I walk by; it's on a main street on my way to the library. Well-lit, but I think it was dusk when he was struck, and I think it was just a tragic accident, where he jumped the curb on his skates and the driver couldn't stop in time. They've recently put up a plaque with his dates and name on it.

[Armcast]

They're very common here in South Texas and Mexico. One that hits close to home was where my parents' godson was killed when a train struck the car he was driving. The crash also killed 3 of his friends riding in the car with him. The families all put up crosses at the railroad intersection. Everytime we'd go visit my parents' friends, we'd always have to pass it and I remember my mother always crossing herself when we'd pass by.

Probably the saddest one I've ever seen was four little crosses in a neighboring town. The crosses were put up for four little children (all siblings) who had been killed in motor vehicle accident. I believe the mother survived (physically) as well as the drunk driver who hit them.

[cleanskull]

They are all over Oklahoma.The one down the highway from me is for a young single mother with her 2 young'ens, they rear-ended a fuel tanker.Only the driver of the truck survived.Sad spot to go by.

[bluebear71]

i live near a long, straight section of road out in the sticks with very few traffic lights very close to a race track- so people seem to enjoy tempting fate along it. it seems like i notice a new cross on the side of the road at least a few times a month.

[DannaMarie24]

[SIZE=4]Yep...I've lived in Ky..Pa..and NC. I am always seeing tons of roadside memorials. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]A few in Pa. where I lived was cleaned up and redecorated for every season change and holiday. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]I never understood why they just didn't go to the actual grave and once a year drop off some flowers at the place of death. [/SIZE]

[MorbidMolly]

I live in Miami and because of the accident rate here, the only way I know someone died in an accident is the roadside memorials......can`t possibly get them all on the news......

[endsleigh03]

In Minnesota once in awhile you will see roadside memorials (crosses, flowers, stuffed animals etc...) where someone has died from a accident. In South Dakota all over the state they have signs that say THINK with a X on them. I think it is a good idea, there is one along the highway about 20 miles from where I live a grandpa, grandma & grandson were killed when a semi truck slammed into them. The family has a really nice memorial along the road, handmade crosses, flowers they have kept it up for about 10 years

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/rant/descansos.html

We also have alot of these where I live.
There is one for my best friend who was killed 2 and a half years ago, at the end of my very short road. I have to exit there every single day and no matter how I try not to, my eyes are dragged there every time. It's really tough. It's gotta be way harder for his best guy friend, who was driving the car. Drunk. I wouldn't want to be him. He got out alive, and has to live with what he did to his best bud

[travnut]

My house is located less than 50 yards from a tree where a young man crashed his car and died. The man's family has a memorial plaque there.

The accident happend at night and I had my windows open and heard the car hit the tree.

[dirttrackdemon3]

yep, its common to see crosses or something of the such here in sc where accidents happen, but there are way to many murders and stuff to mark them spots.

[Kareika]

I remember travelling in Fiji and seeing them there too (crazy drivers over there lemme tell ya...) I guess it is a global thing.
I personally think I drive slower after seeing them

[bblvnvelphy]

Don't know if i am putting this in the right section (hoping i am) or if this has been done, but i was wondering what is everyones opinion on the roadside memorials.
you know, the ones when someone dies in an accident they light candles, put flowers and all thats jazz in the area.

does anyone have any interesting pictures of some?

[RaRaRamona]

You can't go two feet around here without seeing a few. It makes me sad & kind of depresses me. And of course I wonder, against my will, what awful terrifying bloody crash took place there. I even look to see where the car must have ended up or come from. Then I feel guilty & pray I don't suffer the same fate.

[bblvnvelphy]

around here as well. especially on the major streets it never fails to see at least 4 or 5. theres actually a permanent memorial cross on the sidewalk in front of my house. it's a pretty sad story =(