A few years ago I lived around the corner from a crossing where a child lost his life.
To commemorate his life, his family taped a large A4 sized photo of him to a pole next to the crossing. Every time I walked past the photo I thought about a number of things.
I thought about the boy and how he lost his life before getting a chance to really live it; how people speed through pedestrian crossings; how sometimes children run across the road without looking to see if a speeding car is headed towards them; about how life is unpredictable and we don’t know what lies around the corner.
Did the boy’s photo distract me? Yes, it definitely did. Did it distract drivers driving past the crossing? Probably. Was it emotionally upsetting? I think we can all say yes.
VicRoads has released a discussion paper on how distressing and potentially distracting roadside memorials can be, which is why it wants to introduce tough new restrictions on their placement. The guidelines include a number of restrictions including the size of the memorial, banning the placement of photos, and restricting the length of time a memorial can be in place.
This is despite a VicRoads survey showing that 63% of people supported Roadside Memorials and 61% believing they encouraged safer driving. That means that most of us believe that there is nothing wrong with these roadside memorials – especially if it’s helping families of victims to heal.
On top of that, most of us feel they are timely reminders to drive safer.
So far so good, except it seems for VicRoads, who think that these memorials could be detrimental to roadside safety. If that is the case then why aren’t similar rules being introduced for billboards?
An Austroads safety paper discussed “that the movement or changes in luminance created by digital displays will involuntarily capture attention, and that particularly salient emotional and engaging material will divert attention, to the detriment of driving performance” – which basically means digital billboards can be a safety hazard.
Yet no state government is calling for restrictions on roadside billboards. In fact, in NSW they relaxed a ban on digital roadside billboards – mostly because the annual revenue generated by these billboards doubled in the five years leading up to 2013 to $19 million a year.
That means these billboards are a cash cow for the state government.
Sadly, roadside memorials are just a way for bereaved families to remember their loved ones. No money involved here.
Yes, there are some people who find roadside memorials an eyesore and feel they serve no purpose except as a distraction and provide undue emotional stress (just check the comments under this piece).
But for most of us these memorials are proof that someone out there is mourning the loss of their loved one and a reminder to drive safer because our roads can be unpredictable.
Going back to the photo of the boy I used to walk past – it remained there for a few weeks before someone removed it.
But his face serves as a constant reminder for me to always check before crossing a road, even at a crossing. His photo was the best roadside safety message I could receive. If a roadside memorial can do that for me then it has probably done that for someone else.
And if it can save just one person’s life by making them slow down and think, then it’s something worthwhile.
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