PUBLIC REACTION TO ROADSIDE MEMORIALS
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We should never forget that the roadsides are a public space and a dangerous place to be, and that they were not designed as memorial sites. Many local councils and motorists are opposed to them. There is the argument that, over time, if a memorial is not tended to it becomes unsightly when the flowers die, the teddy bears become dirty and the scene rapidly resembles litter. I have witnessed memorials that have become overgrown and untended, but maybe these memorials were not intended to be permanent and they appear as suddenly as the death itself – a poignant reminder of our own mortality. We are here, we bloom and then wither and die just as the floral tributes.