Thread: Images and notices in car rear windows.

Originally Posted by vnx205

I think it is quite different.

The death notice generally appears just once in one paper or a small number of papers and you have to look in that section of the paper to find it. The "In Memorium" might appear once a year.

The cross and flowers on the side of the road are there every time you drive past. You can't avoid seeing them.

The bit of your post that I was getting at the most, was that this was a product of the over-sharing BookFace generation. And I don't believe it is. For me the notices on rear windscreens are ignored the same way as I would skip over the death notice and "In Memorium" pages of the newspaper.

I don't like the roadside memorials though. Why would you need a memorial at the grave and at the place of death? If someone dies falling off a ladder at home, you don't go and stick a white cross and bunches of flowers on the front lawn do you?

The topic has wandered a bit from stickers in car windows to roadside memorials. That is why we seem to be talking at cross purposes. I certainly agree with you that the window stickers are quite discreet and easily ignored if you aren't interested.

I suspect that our attitude to the roadside memorials is probably quite similar too. It was just those memorials that prompted my Facebook comparison.

If it helps the grief process all good. A simple memorial/cross by the side of the road may help the grief process and offers a stark reminder, Drive Safe.

Because I am an Olde Farte I can remember roughly when the roadside memorials started way back in the 70s AFAIR.
Initially it is my understanding that mainly immigrants used to put them up as it was a custom in their country of birth eg Italy, Greece etc.

The RTA , Main Roads and others used to tear them down ASAP as they then thought they were a distraction to drivers.

Somewhere along the line the authorities began to realise/think that the memorials would serve as a deterrent so began to leave them. As they are often placed logically in "black spots" they saw that accident rates declined.

So yet another cultural change in Australia that is imported and took off like drinking coffee and eating calamari.

Regards Philip A

Don't have a view on the rear window memorials as they have yet to appear here in NZ but... a few years back I was driving along one of the local stretches of main highway here and drove past a fresh white cross with my name on it attached to a farm fence. Hair stood upright on my neck, and with goose bumps on arms I turned around to look again to be sure. There it was, sure enough, my name, complete with correct double "L" version of spelling. Date of death on it was only a month or so prior. Very spooky. Different person, but same name. Needless to say, the drive I was doing at the time took a bit longer as it was more thoughtful than previously... after the momentary shock. I actually find the road side memorial to this kind of tragedy quite tempering and often moderating when driving. Better to arrive later than dead on time the saying goes.

I actually quiet like the South Australia system of Black ( death ) & Red ( Serious injury ) posts on the side of the roads. Its a timely reminder for us all to drive safely . Personally I think it should be adopted Australia wide . AND I'm not alone in this thinking.

As for road side memorials unless they are well maintained they should be removed. Although they do have their place.

Gary

There were some of those red and black posts on the Barton Highway coming into Canberra a couple of decades ago. I don't know if they have continued the practice.

I think that if there was any solid evidence that roadside memorials did the same job of reminding people about death and injury on the roads, then those red and black posts would be more common.

Surely there should be some reason or some justification for the erection of a roadside memorial. Although I was never a big follower of Peter Brock, I was aware of who he was and I can understand why a lot of people would think it appropriate to have a memorial to mark the site of his fatal crash.

I think it is appropriate to have a memorial in the centre of Nerrigundah to mark the spot where Constable O'Grady was fatally wounded by the Clarke Brothers. He was attempting to protect the community from a gang of bushrangers who were responsible for more murders than the Kelly Gang. That deserves a memorial and is a significant event in Australia's early history.

I can't see the necessity for a public memorial to mark the spot where someone I have never heard of was speeding and ran off the road while drunk.

Private memorials and private grief are one thing. These public memorials are something else.

Originally Posted by vnx205

There were some of those red and black posts on the Barton Highway coming into Canberra a couple of decades ago. I don't know if they have continued the practice.

I think that if there was any solid evidence that roadside memorials did the same job of reminding people about death and injury on the roads, then those red and black posts would be more common.

Surely there should be some reason or some justification for the erection of a roadside memorial. Although I was never a big follower of Peter Brock, I was aware of who he was and I can understand why a lot of people would think it appropriate to have a memorial to mark the site of his fatal crash.

I think it is appropriate to have a memorial in the centre of Nerrigundah to mark the spot where Constable O'Grady was fatally wounded by the Clarke Brothers. He was attempting to protect the community from a gang of bushrangers who were responsible for more murders than the Kelly Gang. That deserves a memorial and is a significant event in Australia's early history.

I cant' see the necessity for a public memorial to mark the spot where someone I have never heard of was speeding and ran off the road while drunk.

Private memorials and private grief are one thing. These public memorials are something else.

While recognising that this thread has wandered off my original intention, I must say that near my place there is a roadside memorial to a young bloke that was speeding, high on drugs and ran off the road and dead centered a tree. What has happened is the tree has been turned into a seat (it was knocked down) there is a small garden with white painted rocks around it, a surf board with his name on it attached to a nearby tree, and solar lights so you can see it of a night. How the local council has allowed this has me beat.
While agreeing that the loss of a family member is terrible, particularly after an accident, to make it so public is in my opinion...tacky.