Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday September 29 2002 — C9 Are highway memorials traffic hazards? By Ted Shaffrey Associated Press Writer The family was gathered the kitchen table talking about a terminally ill aunt when the conversation turned to what each would want done with their bodies should they ' around die “I don’t want to be underground with worms crawling all over me” blurted Brian Rector His mother Deena Breeden would recall those words when just a few months later he was fatally injured in a highway accident Family members opted for an increasingly common type of remembrance after Brian's body was ‘cremated They erected a roadside memorial Now that Colorado memorial is at the center of a legal dispute that highlights Americans’ conflicting feelings about the markers which are being created for a growing fraction of the 42000 people who die each year on US roadways Across the nation legislatures courts and families are straggling with questions the memorials raise Are they protected cultural or religious expressions as some say? Or are they traffic hazards? Are they a public inmosition of private grief or a fitting tribute in an era that has trouble “dealing with death?” It had just rained making slush out of winter’s last taste of snow when Brian Rector ' drove his Ford Escort down Interstate 70 near Aurora Colo to his grocery job in March 1998 Just as he took an exit a semi truck went out of control on the slippery road and smashed into Rector’s car The young man died a short time later After the cremation and funeral a family friend took some and paint and fashioned a white cross inscribing it “Son Brother Friend” Breeden appreciated the gesture even though she said her family is not particularly religious They put the cross along with flowers and two small angels on the grassy median next to where the accident occurred — because that is where she says her son’s spirit left his body For two years they drove by stopping occasionally to add derorations — flowers or notes flags at the Fourth of July wreaths at Christmastime “Because we don’t have it " cemetery plot to go to Breeden explained “we definitely want to keep up the memorial forever” More people are cremated now then ever before — 23 percent of all US deaths in 2000 compared to fewer than 3 percent in 1971 Still experts say time’s more behind spontaneous memorials which don’t just show up on roadways Tributes materialized overnight throughout lower Manhattan after the World Trade Cento- attacks and earlier around the bombed Oklahoma City federal building and sites associated with PrinceSs Diana’s fatal accident People are increasingly ere- ating their own sacred places experts say “The roadside memorial may indicate dissatisfaction with the traditional mourning practices — the funeral and the cemetery are not enough anymore" wrote professors Jennifer Clark and Majella Franzmann in January’s Road-Wis- e the journal of the Australian College Of Road Safety' Grieving families also “do not want loved ones killed in ' road accidents to be the anonymous victims of an invisible killer They want to personalize this issue” By marking an accident site survivors create “a living memory of this person's life” said Donna Schuurman president of the Connecticut-base- d Association for Death Education and Counseling a networking group for people in industries “Our society doesn’t do a good job with dealing with grief-relat- ed death” For years she said Americans have swept the grieving process under the rag and now it’s popping tip in public ways that few expected — and that some don’t like In Colorado a driver who regularly passed Brian Rector’s memorial grew quietly aggravated with it and several others that he encountered daily en route to work at Denver International Airport ' “I had gone through a lot of personal turmoil myself” said the driver Rodney Lyle Scott now 33 “I didn’t appreciate somebody else throwing their hurt and sorrow out for the public view as if it was more important than someone else’s The editorial office for the Journal of Society & Natural Resources has recently moved to theDepartment of Sociology Social Work and Anthropology at Utah State The journal is affiliated with the International Association for Society and Natural Resources an interdisciplinary organization where natural resource professionals researchers academics and Baaad University Richard S Krannich a pro-fess- k'tt-iUf- who died in a car crash in 1997 sits along 495 north in Hopkington Mass Roadside memorials are the subject of a legal dispute illuminating Americans' conflicting feelings about the markers After Scott was charged a Denver attorney named Bob Tieman offeredto represent him for free Tieman 68 is a member of the Madison Wis- - based Freedom From Religion Foundation which rallies for separation of church and state Roadside memorials “are using public property to endorse religion — it’s a violation of the US Constitution as far as I’m concerned and it's a serious distraction hurt or losses” After dark one night in April 2000 a state trooper spotted Scott’s pickup on the side of the road with its hazard lights on In the bed of the truck was a collection of flowers and wooden crosses Scott told the trooper he was “cleaning up the inter‘ state” Thinking Scott had permis- sion to do so the trooper let him go Soon the Breedens and other families noticed their memorials missing and -complained Scott identified through his license number taken by the trooper was charged with “desecration of a venerated object” and faced the possibility of six months in jail and a $730 fine Journal offices move to By USU Media Relations AP photo A roadside memorial in memory of Talia Elmslie 15 from Milford Mass USU students gather to explore a diverse and broad range of- natural resource issues Krannich is executive director-de- of the signate associa- tion (rc af hy jack Weyland ‘ The Oregon Department of Transportation wound up outlawing all roadside memorials as traffic hazards Bob Tiemaln’s belief in church-stat- e separation was not the only reason he was drawn to Scott's case Ironically Tieman understands Deena Breeden’s pain all too well On a rainy summer night in 1981 Tieman lost control of his Car which smashed into a tree causing his son severe brain damage The boy died iater “It’s my grief” said Tier-na-n “Everyone has grief in your life you deal with it without fracing other people to deal with it I didn't put up a memorial on Route 30 because I wanted to do something useful with my grief” In April 2001 Tieman won acquittal for Scott when a judge ruled the Rector memorial was “discarded refuse" ‘ ' for drivers'’ said Tieman The religious theme of many roadside memorials was challenged two years ago in Oregon when a legislator proposed a law to specifically protect roadside crosses after constituents complained the state wasremoving them Protesters responded by putting up placards along highways The American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue contending the law would unconstitutionally protect religious statements over other speech ‘ ' and “unlawful advertising" not a venerated object The Breedens were allowed to put a memorial back up — its cross removed to keep from offending anyone — without receiving a citation 4752-307- 2 UTAH Mod (CHILDREN ADULTS Vutlirv' lcrie Oitrnuni 4AT SE ATI ORE $200 LuxwymgM AT GPf AT RiCTIlPt SPY KIDS II ro SB Daily 4:45 7:00 9:00 or of sociology and department head serves as of the Journal The journal presents social science research on environmental and natural resource issues and is considered one of the most prestigious outlets for research in these areas said Gary Kiger interim dean of the College of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences at Utah peer-review- ed ' LAST CHANCE! 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