Roadside memorials: A distraction or do they encourage you to drive better?

[CBC News]

Roadside memorials can work as visible deterrents to bad driving, a Calgary study has found.

Researchers from the University of Calgary placed mock memorials at selected intersections with red light cameras in the city. In the six weeks after they were put up, almost 17 per cent fewer drivers ran red lights than before.

Roadside tributes, often consisting of flowers, stuffed animals and photos, have become popular ways to grieve and remember victims of motor vehicle crashes.

The practice has been criticized for distracting drivers and creating road hazards.

But after collecting and analyzing data, Richard Tay, study author and road safety chair at the Schulich School of Engineering, concluded Friday that the presence of roadside memorials has no significant effect on traffic speed or following distance.

Read full story


Do you find these roadside memorials a distraction or do they encourage you to drive better?



More...

 

[Kreskin]

Is it possible that they do neither?

 

[Nuggler]

:angry3:........Another slow ****ing news day.

I hate roadside memorials, as they speak of................hey look at me!!! I left a Teddy Bear. I was a reeeeeeeeely good friend of whasssher/his/name........like I spoke to them once at school.

Quick glance. on we go. Nope, I don't speed, so I don't slow down.

:You should see'em on #7..............holy s h i t !!

Starting to hate the CBC..........!!!.............

 

[lone wolf]

One on #17, just a half mile from here, was actually the cause of an accident. It was in the middle of a blind reversing curve and three people stood on the shoulder to offer flowers and prayers. A driver rounding the first curve felt intimidated by opposing traffic and hit the shoulder ... then those three people.

For the most part, they're ignored by the too fast too furious crowd

 

[Twila]

I think the money spent on flowers and teddy bears and the time taken to put them there and maintain a roadside memorial could be better spent on preventing the next accident.

 

[Risus]

I think roadside memorials are ridiculous. Road workers should remove them.

I don't recall having these things years ago...

 

[karrie]

I think it depends on the location.

On an extremely bad stretch of road, they become almost a form of protest. Like the Two Creeks Hill outside of FoxCreek, where I nearly lost my husband (then boyfriend), where I lost two classmates, and where countless others lost their lives to poor road maintenance on a bad hill. In the end the gov literally cut the hill down and put in a divided highway.

 

[talloola]

They do make me think. Can you imagine how many places along the roadside, people
have died, and we drive by those places all the time and never think about it. But, as
soon as their is a small memorial, it catches my eye, and I think of the actual accident,
and it happened 'right here', wow. Yes, I think they make a statement, and perhaps
'help' someone else who might see it, while driving by.
Some of them are too outlandish, a simple statement is enough, and makes a big
impact.

 

[Kreskin]

The only thing I think of when I pass one is a family having a very hard time dealing with loss. If it helps them cope I have no problem with it at all.

 

[talloola]

The only thing I think of when I pass one is a family having a very hard time dealing with loss. If it helps them cope I have no problem with it at all.

Yes, twice I have driven by a memorial, and there was someone there. One was a lady all
by herself, obviously grieving and crying, and I felt very sad for her. The other was a small
group gathered, maybe family.

 

[scratch]

I think the money spent on flowers and teddy bears and the time taken to put them there and maintain a roadside memorial could be better spent on preventing the next accident.

I would agree with you on that.
scratch

 

[jjaycee98]

Personally I would not "tie" the spirit of that personal to that place where they obviously suffered massive pain. We either bury a body or sprinkle ashes in a place we believe to be a resting place for their spirit. I think these memorials are somewhat goulish.

 

[Nuggler]

Personally I would not "tie" the spirit of that personal to that place where they obviously suffered massive pain. We either bury a body or sprinkle ashes in a place we believe to be a resting place for their spirit. I think these memorials are somewhat goulish.

Thanks Jjaycee; you put it better than I did. Goulish is the word I wanted. Wife borrowed the dick-shun-airy on me last night to do crosswords.

My personal philosophy is to not leave a print on the grass, and leave well. Those who will remember you, will, monuments regardless.