Friday, July 26, 2013

ROADSIDE SHRINES

 
Do you know what I mean by roadside shrines?
 
I don't mean the religious shrines that you see along the roads in countries like Italy of France.
 
Probably a better name would be roadside memorials - a marker of some sort placed where a person died suddenly, often related to a car accident.



 
 
They often take the form of bunches of flowers or crosses.

 

 
or a novel one like this
 
 
gives you a clue to how the young man was killed.


This one at the site where the body of a local murdered woman was found is taking things to extremes.
 
 
These " memorials" are beginning to be found in ever increasing numbers on the roads I travel along.

 Do you have them where you live?
 
What do you think of them?
 
I think they are a dangerous distraction and I'm just waiting for the time when someone else is killed when they take their eyes off the road ( they are often on dangerous corners ) to peer at them to see what they are about.
 
I find them ghoulish in the extreme.
 
I thought that's what cemetaries were for !!!
 
 
Cheers.

PS. I apologise for the quality of a couple of these photo but I found them all on the Internet. They are all local memorials !!!!!!
 

10 comments:

  1. yes, we have them here in the US too. I'm not sure what I think of them.

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  2. They seem to have proliferated here in the UK in recent years as at one time they were unknown here. I agree with you about cemeteries being the right place for such memorials but it is also said that they can act as a warning of dangerous driving or dangerous spots along the road. What is really sad though is to see bunches of dead flowers and an air of neglect a long time afterwards. I would think tending such a memorial (though I have never actually seen anyone doing so) might prove dangerous too!

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  3. I guess the people you need to ask are the families who have lost a loved one in this way.
    I know one family whose teenage son was killed by a drunk driver, they regard creating their roadside memorial as an important part of their healing process.
    I don't object to them, I'm just heartily thankful it wasn't one of my kids.

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  4. I so don't like the bike one. But, it so does happen. We just lost a lady in her 40s north of us this past spring. Unfortunately, we have the same road side markers here dotting our landscape.

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  5. We have them in England and they really annoy me! I think it's simply littering. I appreciate that people want to have some form of memorial but I think they should either plant a small shrub or something and add a plaque and/or that a law should be passed that allows people to ONLY place flowers at these sites if they remove all plastic packaging and tie them with natural fibre - no one ever comes back and take the plastic wrapping away when the flowers have died and I think that's a disgrace.

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  6. I think if they are discreet and tastefully done they aren't any more of a distraction than lot of other things in the landscape.

    Some of them are distractions though and those ones shouldnt be allowed.

    I guess their placement is about families and friends wanting to acknowledge the unexpected death of their loved one and if it assists them to accept that death then I dont see much wrong with it.

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  7. We have quite a few around where we live. They don't actually bother me as it is a reminder that life is very short, that someone is grieving over the loss of someone usually in very tragic circumstances.
    I like the idea Louise has about planting something in remembrance but I suppose that would have to have approval from the local council as where I live they are quite concerned about the wrong sort of plants getting into the forest.
    I wouldn't like a roadside memorial to be a distraction to other drivers though and I'd also rather the wrappings be taken of so as not to become litter.

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  8. We never used to see them by the roads of England but now they are pretty common. I must say that if I was mashed in a road accident I wouldn't want my family and friends to create a roadside shrine for me. I hadn't thought about the road safety issue you raised - gawping passers-by - CRUNCH!

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  9. I also live in England where we see them more and more and I don't like them. They may be seen as warnings of a dangerous spot but the very fact that people continue to place flowers there means that they are putting themselves in danger - it doesn't make sense to me. We don't return to any other spot where a person has died time and time again, so why roadsides?

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  10. There is one not two miles from our house that is surrounded by a gravel pad and a low picket fence and is lit up at night.

    I find these memorials awkward in the extreme but certainly understand why a surviving family might want to put one up. And they probably do make people aware that something terrible happened here and hopefully contribute to their becoming safer drivers.

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