OT: Roadside Memorials.

My husband too Pat. We were stopped at a red light that was just changing to green - and dumb me - I said 'oh look at the gorgeous dog in the next car' ... he did, we smashed into the car in front of us ... my head smashed the windshield. Husband didn't even notice THAT for a few minutes, then said 'what happened to the windshield?' I said 'my damn head is what happened to the windshield'. Man oh man did that hurt. I tell him to look at nothing these days. It's safer ... for me. :-))

Sharon (N.B.)

I happen to find them tacky. I suspect that is my Puritan, New England heritage shining through.

I also think they are a distraction to drivers, prolong the initial mourning to an unhealthy extent and can be unwelcome reminders of various daily tragedies.

Cheryl

My sentiments entirely!

I wish they'd ban them here too. But do you find the media plays a large role in keeping this growing trend active? Then there's the cell phone drivers. Don't even get me started on those! If I was ever hit by a cell phone driver, I think I'd get out of the car and start choking them.......AFTER I throw their phone in the nearest ditch. Although no department is willing to release stats, it's my guess people on cell phones cause 80% of the accidents on our roads.

Maureen

Not mine. Around here they are controlled, they are a plain white marker placed at the places where people were killed by drunk drivers. They are placed there by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

I notice them, though not to my distraction, and always think, how sad. It certainly points to the number of people that are killed by drunk drivers.

Now I think all the people who rushed out and put flowers around Kensington Palace for Diana needed their heads examined. But the MADD markers, they serve a purpose.

Count me in on the tacky and unhealthy, but that's coming from someone who has a pink flamingo on the shelf over my kitchen cabinets. lol Lucille

The plain ones are almost OK by me, but I still think grief should be private, not put on display. Their friends and family know what happened, don't need daily reminders and I don't think it stops a single person from driving impaired.

It is the ones that have toys and flowers and multiple religious emblems and wreathe and photos that irritate me.

There is currently a large one near a local (and busy) intersection. No drugs involved and no one else injured either - guy just had a massive coronary and was dead before his motorcycle fell over. But given the profusion of stuff, you'd think 20 toddlers had perished in a fiery blaze at an orphanage.

Cheryl

A plastic one I trust!

"Maureen In Vancouver, B.C." wrote in message news:05_Te.445637$s54.105158@pd7tw2no...

It`s against the law here. Thank goodness.

Pat P

Yeah - but surely it`s not distracting motorists! LOLOL!

Pat P

No--not that bad. It's a paper mache so it's not quite that tacky. And after all, I do live in Florida. lol

And just in case anyone misreads my note--it's not on my lawn. Lucille

Greetings from the town that caused MADD to first be formed. The markers seen in the city limits are usually for pedestrian casualties. The ones for children run over are the most heartbreaking. On many of the California back country roads, I appreciate them because they usually are a silent testimony to blind spots, hairpin curves, and areas where unsafe drivers are at their most dangerous.

Jaenne

They`re certainly better than the stacks of flowers - large crosses - windmills - even solar powered lights we`ve been getting around here lately. I`d still sooner see an official road sign for a hairpin bend etc., though!

Pat P

True (and good thing, too!) but have you heard of anyone actually being pulled for it? I still see people yapping on their phone while driving all the time.

Judy in UK

Please re-read - I said the INITIAL mourning - the gut wrenching, brain numbing grief that leaves one prostrate and helpless, not the daily gentle daily memories that linger forever. Staying in the former is not healthy. And a memorial should be in a grave yard or a home, not a busy main street.

Smiling at my grandmother or cousin's picture and thinking about them is not the same as breaking down in tears every time I enter the dining room.

Cheryl

While i find them sometimes distracting the eye, i find them when done properly a warning to other drivers . As to your next remarks , No one can judge for others how long they can mourn, Nore are you a judge or pschologist to call , a longer than you think is appropriate Mourning = unhealthy , For many families Monuments are a Very healthy comfort. mirjam

I have occasionally seen someone mentioned in the paper as being fined. I wish they`d impose the £40 fine on the idiots cycling like mad on the pavements! Not just kids, either!

And one day I swear I`ll "accidentally" tread on the spokes of those cycles that the kids throw down RIGHT in front of shop doorways!!!

Pat P

Pat P

Mirjam, check the clock on your computer. Your posts keep remaining at the top, sure sign your computer is too far advanced.