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LOLLIPOP MARKERS*
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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*Dan Hoolihan calls the memorial markers that dot the highways of Florida, "Lollipops."
Death can come quickly and especially on the roads of I95, the Florida Turnpike, etc. Flowers, trinkets, crosses, messsages and spontaneous shrines in honor of someone who died in a road crash are seen "umetum" (everywhere).
There's a roadside shrine for San Diego Padres outfielder, Mike Darr, who was killed in an auto accident in 2002.
No statistics exist on memorials, though one national survey by the Maryland Dept. of Transportation estimates markers are erected after 10% to 20% of fatal crashes.
This phenomenon of roadside memorials may be associated with another growing trend: public outpouring of "tsaar" (grief) for celebrities (think Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Diana, Princess of Wales).
Unlike "der keyver ort" (the grave site/ place), which marks where the body is laid, the memorial marks the last place on "erd" (earth) where a person was alive.
Usually the memorial is created and maintained by family members or friends of the deceased. A handwritten "yedie" (message) may be included.
One creative Seminole County judge, Carmine Bravo, has imposed a creative sentence for "shiker" (drunk) drivers. The 18th Circuit Court judge has always been known for his creative sentences as one DUI case after another came across his desk.
Since 2004, he has sentenced drivers convicted of misdemeanor traffic offenses to write 500 "vort" (word) essays about the people memorialized in roadside markers. The offenders are ordered to research five crash victims, retrieve accident reports, visit the memorial site, make some kind of improvement while there, and take a picture.
Lisa J. Huriash, staff writer for the Sun Sentinel (Feb. 25, 2012), wrote that "Cities across Florida have rules for regulating the erection or duration of roadside memorial markers. But some don't follow them, to avoid the delicate and emotional issue of taking down a marker in memory of somebody who was killed."
Colorado had so many instances of vandalism at the memorial sites that the state unveiled a standardized blue sign with the simple message: "Please drive safely" and the victim's name.
What does Rabbi Sheldon J. Harr, whose daughter, Elizabeth was killed in 1990 in Plantation [FL] along Sunrise Boulevard, say about memorial markers? (Her marker has been up ever since.)
"There's an emotional connectiveness to
symbols and this is a symbol of a life cut
short but well lived," he said. "It harms no
one. It seems heartless for those of us who
have gone through this to prevent this kind
of memorial."
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Marjorie Wolfe reminds young and
"seasoned" drivers of this quote by Dave
Barry ("Things That Took Me 50 Years to
Learn"):
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers."
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