Automotive crashes lead most countries as the cause of death. As in Northeast Tennessee, it is common in many areas to see roadside memorials erected at the site of the crash. Most of these are makeshift memorials and take many shapes and sizes. In most jurisdictions they ban them.
Many tributes line the roadways in the roads and highways of the tri-cities. Highway 19E in Carter County is full of such markers. The highway from Elizabethton to Roan Mountain has claimed many lives over the years. The roadside memorials are a testament to the fallen.
State law
The "public right of way" is state (or local jurisdiction) owned property. Anyone who uses the land or places anything on it, is tresspassing. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) often encounters memorials in the right-of-way. Most people appreciate the sentiment, yet TDOT regards them as an obstacle. Agency officials have a duty to maintain the roads and right-of-ways. They keep them clear of obstructions.
Tennessee State Law prohibits roadside memorials placed in the public right-of-way. TDOT's enforcement of the statute comes from a public safety standpoint, not a lack of empathy. It is dangerous for people to stop along roadways to either make or pay respects at such memorials.
Though these efforts have good intentions, there are inherant dangers. They are close to moving vehicles and potentially distracted drivers. Stopping pedestrians or vehicles pose a hazard to others. They could cause accidents or get hit. That is the position of state officials. Citations are rarely issued for erecting roadside memorials.
TDOT does ask people to take them down. Mrs. Warpoole and her son lost her husband to a crash in Murfreesboro. He was in a crash along Interstate-24 in Murfreesboro. She said said "I think it would help other motorists who have lost a loved one for any reason." She said "being asked to take it down makes it hard to cope."Similar situations have arisen across the state.
In Sullivan County on Highway 394, a marker resides near Exide Drive in Bristol. It marks where a paramedic crashed on her way to work and died from her injuries. Another paramedic's marker is on highway 19E outside of Elizabethton. It is near where Carlos Godsey died in the flood of 1998.
Approved rememberance
The state does have a program for honoring those who lost their lives in roadway crashes. The Tennessee Groves program allows people to buy flowers or trees. These get planted in honor of loved ones. They plant these at one of the welcome centers across the state.
The effect of memorials
Advocates argue a memorial's presence improves safety. It does this by drawing attention to dangerous areas where others have died. Officials call them a distraction. Distractions are cited as a reason for decreasing safety in dangerous areas. The problem on both sides has a been a lack of supporting evidence.
In an Austrailian study, forty drivers reviewed videos of roads. Sections of roadway were with and without memorials. Subjects in the study determined how the presence of roadside memorials affected their attention. The use of eye movement and related safety behaviors were noted.
The findings show memorials capture the visual attention of drivers. The fixations on the memorial is less than on objects placed on the roadside. Memorials drew attention briefly. Memorials do not appear to affect risk or impact travel speed. Most participants favored allowing roadside memorials. A small number of subjects strongly opposed the memorials. They believed them to be a distraction, or distressing.
Significance
Many cultures erect roadside memorials after fatal crashes. These mark where the person died. It allows the family and friends to openly mourn. While policies on memorials vary around the country, many officials believe they are a distraction - in the absence of corroborating evidence. The World Health Organization estimates 1.25 million roadway fatalities each year (2015). Most of the memorials studied on roadsides were in tribute to young people who died.
Real hazard
The real hazard would appear to be less to the public and more for highway maintenance crews. Crews maintaining the road right-of-ways having to work around memorials are more likely to injure themselves or others when mowing or working around erected markers and other type memorials. Even the Tennessee Groves program has the trees and flowers planted in and around welcome centers where they can be properly cared for by gardeners instead of highway workers.
Highway workers are working in and around motor vehicles traveling at speeds which may be dangerous, and drivers who may be distracted - regardless of the reason.It would appear signage and other memorials moved just beyond the right of way would be the logical solution. It would only require the approval of the property owner. Most of the time this is a simple task.
Mourning glory
To mourn is a part of life. We use it to reconcile our emotions off loss. It is important to grieve. It is not necessarily best to leave markers along the roadways where friends and families have died. It would be like putting a marker outside the home for everyone who died in a house.
It isn't as important as the location being marked. That will live with survivors as long as they need it in their own memories. Lasting tributes can be placed in more logical locations.
The limited research doesn't appear to support limiting their location in the right-of-way, but there is room for compromise.
References:
- Beanland, V., Wynne, R.A. Effects of roadside memorials on drivers’ risk perception and eye movements. Cogn. Research 4, 32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-019-0184-1
- “Roadside memorials illegal in Tennessee,” Emily Luxen, March 28, 2014; The Daily News Journal, “Warpoole family asked to remove roadside memorial,” Michelle Willard, March 26, 2014