I guess using a cross as a symbol for death is more acceptable than a hooded figure carrying a scythe.
Maybe we could suggest other more universal symbols for death.
A skull and crossbones comes to mind.
I thought in Florida, they use these white lollilop shape signs to mark where a fatal accident takes place. At least I remember seeing a lot of them on US-1 on our way down to Key West.
Around by me (Westchester County, NY) some families put up these god-awful ugly fake flower displays.
I think that was actually a single incident. There was a rather gruesome crash where a school van had a head on collision with a tanker truck on that stretch of road during the 80’s. Usually the roadside crosses are just left to decay and are gone in a decade or so, but they seem to be maintaining that particular cluster.
Nah, everybody knows a skull & crossbones means. “Here Be Pirates!”
I remember when driving in Australia the roads had white and black posts beside them, white for injuries and black for fatal accidents I believe. On the long stretches of dead straight highway in SA there’d be the occasional one dotted on each side, then you’d come to the first bend in 10 miles and there would be a veritable forest of them, where people had zoned out and ploughed off the road…
I’ve never seen one of these in my life, and had no idea what the OP was talking about. The crosses though, yes, those are all-too-common around here.
In Colorado the use of the cross was outlawed and now the signs show a kind of ribbon shape (kinda like the Race for the Cure). As far as I know they are only at locations where someone was killed by a drunk driver.
Actually, there are of styles (pdf file).
Bob
While I understand the sentiment, roadside memorials have always seemed tacky and frankly rather ugly to me. And how long are they supposed to stay up? Are these things meant to be permanent? I see so many that I’ve essentially become desensitized to them, so there’s arguably not a lot of impact on random strangers. They’re little different than graffiti as far as I’m concerned, and ought to be removed in a timely fashion. Do friends and family really keep revisiting these memorials at the site of their loved one’s death? That seems morbid and not entirely healthy.
As for the Ghost Bikes, there’s all of that plus the fact that they block the damn sidewalk (at least the ones in the photos in the wiki article seem to). As a pedestrian, I’d be more annoyed than moved by the gesture.
Do others here feel the same way, or am I just an insensitive asshole? “Both” is an option.
Bike Ghosts should be attached with Power Bands I guess… 