By Craig P. Dixon, southcoast247.com correspondent Social Commentary 119
July 10th, 2007
The South Coast has a lot of great things. Beautiful beaches. We're located
only hours from big cities like Boston and New York, and vacation
destinations like the Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the mountains of New
Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. And New Bedford's the Number 1 fishing port in
the nation. So, the seafood is always fresh and in good supply.
We lack
little (other than jobs). But, if there's anything the South Coast could use
(other than jobs), it's more roadside memorials. As it stands, I can't drive
down any single major public thoroughfare without seeing one of these
commemorations to a car accident victim.
If you've ever traveled a South
Coast road, you've seen a roadside memorial. They're usually made up of
things you'd find at a funeral home, cemetery, or funereal service.
Sometimes it's just a discreet cross that you'd miss if you weren't paying
attention.
Others are huge, flamboyant affairs, complete with flags,
graffiti, wreaths, flowers, candles, teddy bears, flashing signs, etc. You
won't miss these. In fact, such eye-catchers can, and often do, distract
you. These memorials to the car accident dead may lead to other accidents.
Ironic.
Fear not. We'll have more roadside memorials in no time.
Most of
these memorials are built on State property. Alongside fast-moving
interstates as well as slower-moving avenues and both heavily and lightly
trafficked streets. Therefore, they fall under the right to free-expression
and are protected by the same Constitutional law that provides free
speech.
Why are they put up? Well, I suppose some want to commemorate their
loved ones, and the place of their horrific deaths. They don't have time to
visit a cemetery and decorate a gravestone. This is the high-speed
information age, after all. They'd rather decorate public roadsides. So,
every time they, and everybody else, drive by the accident site, they can be
reminded of the fatal scene. It's just not enough for one person to
contemplate mortality. It's a dish for everybody to savor.
Sure, roadside
memorials can be taken down. But there's nothing saying that they can't be
put up. And put back up. Getting rid of them is out of the question. They're
like toadstools. You swipe a few away, and a dozen will appear
overnight.
So, what is to be done with these morbid dedications to beloved
accident victims?
Nothing. In fact, we should do our best to make these
memorials more omnipresent. I recommend everyone put up roadside memorials,
not only to memorialize car accident fatalities, but all deaths.
Grandpa
died of a heart attack in the mall? Impale a teddy bear to a six-foot-tall
cross on the nearest route. Your aunt got murdered and mutilated, her body
dumped on Route 88? Build a big, weeping crucified Christ on the spot. Your
friend dead of a cocaine overdose in a run down neighborhood? Commemorate
him on the roadside with candles.
You may be saying, "Craig, those are
natural/accidental/violent deaths. They don't qualify for a roadside
memorial." But I disagree. A car accident death is all of the above:
Accidental, violent, and natural. Motor vehicle accidents ranked seventh on
the leading causes of death list in the US, according to the 2002 National
Vital Statistics Report.
It's about time we took the funereal accoutrement
out of the funeral! All the world's a cemetery! It should be festooned as
such.
The South Coast has a lot of great things. Beautiful beaches. We're located
only hours from big cities like Boston and New York, and vacation
destinations like the Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the mountains of New
Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. And New Bedford's the Number 1 fishing port in
the nation. So, the seafood is always fresh and in good supply.
