Families ignore advice on floral tributes
MOURNING families are ignoring road safety experts by continuing to build roadside memorials to crash victims.
North Lincolnshire Council and Humberside Police said the roadside shrines are a distraction to motorists while families argue they act as a warning to drivers.
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DANGEROUS? Floral tributes left on Cemetery Road, Scunthorpe.
Pete Scott, the head of safer roads for the council, said: "This is a sensitive area and we accept that for a short period of time following a road traffic accident there will be flowers and other items left at the scene.
"However, we would not support the establishment of longer-term roadside memorials.
"They are potential distraction to other road users, an obstruction in the highway and are often at locations where people constructing, maintaining or visiting the memorial may be exposed to increased road safety risk."
But Mark Murphy (46), of Goxhill, whose mother Dorothy Murphy (74) died after being hit by a lorry at a zebra crossing in Barton last July, said: "I was grateful for the people who put flowers at the site of my mother's accident, near the pedestrian crossing."
He added: "I can understand them wanting to get rid of permanent reminders, but I do think they should allow families to mark the death of a loved one.
"If there was a permanent reminder it may help people to be more careful themselves. It highlights where an area is dangerous and makes people think about things more."
Since 2002, a total of 94 people have been killed on the roads of North Lincolnshire, including two so far this year.
For the full story, buy today's Scunthorpe Telegraph.
4 Comments
by Greg Speier, Santiago Chile
Thursday, March 19 2009, 1:49PM
“One other option is to provide a small but safely located turn-out every 10 km or so and allow grieving family to errect a memorial at that location for all victems either 5 km prior or 5 km after, It may be more important to have a memorial than to have it located exactly where the loved one died, which is normally on the pavement and impossible.
Costa Rica paints a heart on the pavement where a person dies and Colombia paints a starr.”
by Princess Grace, Barton
Thursday, March 19 2009, 10:42AM
“liz nobody cares what you think on the matter. Lets hope we're not leaving flowers out for you pretty soon.”
by Robert Sergent, Spring Texas USA
Tuesday, March 17 2009, 3:20AM
“I read your article regarding roadside memorials on your website with great interest. It was well written and informative.
Your readers would benefit from the knowledge there is an alternative to displaying a roadside memorial on public roads or right of ways. The National Memorial Registry (www.NationalMemorialRegistry.com) is Internet based and offers free of any charge, the opportunity for any individual to dedicate a memorial location to a loved one. With the help of our extensive database of mapping software, a person can dedicate a specific address, site, or location in honor of, or to validate, the life of an individual that has an influence on their lives. Every memorial dedication is displayed on our maps for the world to view.”
by liz, Barton
Monday, March 16 2009, 1:17PM
“I know my comment may upset some people, but hope they can see the bigger picture. I can understand the grief people feel at the loss of a loved one, but the continued need to leave flowers etc at the site of an accident is just getting out of hand. How would patients feel in hospital if families went and tied flowers to the bed their loved one's passed away on, or tied them to the door of a care home. By all means leave them initially, if it makes you feel better, but it gets out of hand months and even years later, we have graves and rememberence gardens to leave flowers at, and remember our loved ones as they were, not with the negative and possibly awful reminder to where they lost their lives.”