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Roadside Memorial crosses


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I would think that hunting caches in cemeteries would be worse, but I don't have a problem with either.

 

The families put the crosses there, usually without permission, to memorialize their loved ones, and for all the public to see. If the cache page mentions the name and details of what happened it only extends the memorial further and raises the awareness of safe driving. When I see a memorial, it only reminds me to drive safely.

 

I even think the roadside memorial Buddha statues are cool too.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kudagitsune/249606222/

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I have a friend who is a traffic cop, and he refers to the roadside shrines as attempts to enshrine stupid people who weren't paying attention while driving.

 

As one of those cops, I never pass a roadside monument without thinking to myself sadly that it's a monument to someone's stupidity. Maybe not necessarily the person who died, but nearly always someone's momentary, chronic or tragic stupidity. A memorial to say "Something stupid happened at this spot". Very sad. Not really something I'd want to draw attention to myself, and certainly not a place I'd choose to spend the limited recreation time I have.

 

 

Congratulations. These are two of the most callous posts I've seen a while. :laughing:

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I have no problem with this type cache idea if:

 

...

2. There is a safe way to reach the loaction.

Whether a cache is safe enough to go after is always in the eyes of the searcher. As long as the cache is appropriately rated, the cache could be hidden in the center on an island in a sea of lava and guarded by a family of rabid velociraptors.

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Let's call this whining what it really is - whining. Some don't like the roadside memorials and that's fine but to make lame excuses like they distract drivers in pathetic. So the cell phones, DVD players, GPSr, MP3 players, coffee, music, CDs, makeup, etc wasn't enough of a distraction that an occasional roadside cross is going to bother these drivers?

If people want to memorialize a lost loved-one let 'em, if a cache can be tastefully placed at the memorial then fine. Those who object don't have to look at it or look for it

 

NO, let's call it disrespect. In less it is your family or friend you do not know them, placing a cache is not honoring them. We all know we do not have to look at it or look for it. What are you getting out of the cache except a number. I think the owner of the cache should find the family and let them know that they are placing the cache at their family members memorial. If the family approves then go for it. Because if it was not for a roadside memorial and a lost of live there would be no cache.

 

If the family wants to honor their family member good for them. Let's not play a game around their loss.

 

NO LOSS OF LIVE, NO ROADSIDE MEMORIAL, NO CACHE! :laughing:

Perhaps some of us should take a nice cleansing breath.

 

Back to the cache in question. It is not at the memorial. I fail to see how it is any less respectful than any other cache that points out any other memorial. (Please see my previous post regarding this.)

 

This weekend, there was a jazz festival around the square in my town. In the center of that square is a memorial to lost confederate soldiers. While my wife and I were there, we were shocked to see a family walk up and read the memorial. Clearly, the jazz festival people should have consulted with the families of the soldiers before they enticed people to approach the memorial. They should not be playing around these families' losses.

 

It's shameful. [/sarcasm]

 

If it was not for the memorial then there would be not cache at those sites. There are 10 of those caches and for all of them a requirement is to post a picture with your GPS at the memorial site, no matter if you off set the physical cache to get the log for the number you still have to include the memorial site and a picture.

 

Your comparsion to that memorial is different. Your memorial is history and you can learn from that history. No one lost their life at that site and it is not on the side of the road. Your site in question was a drive to honor those of the past that made this country what it is.

 

Take at look at the cache pages they are all the same except a different with pictures cache locations. Except the same information on all of the pages, tell me where you have learned about that memorial in question. In some of the pictures you find a name, date of death, flowers. Where is the history lesson? :ph34r:

 

So History is only things that you find in books? My life and your life are not of any historical value. I'd have to disagree with that, it's all history and the event was obviously tragic and important to some one else. Important enough to place a memorial, a token of remembrance so that the fact that that person(s) did exist and met their end at that spot. Finding a cache in a tree stump in some park has no more or less historical value than a roadside memorial. The value of the history comes from the person making the observation.

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... That being said, one more person milling about near the side of the road, doesn't cause anything any added danger, in my opinion.

 

When I was a teen I was riding my bike along side the road. This truck full of girls drives by and the girls in back all smile and waive at me. About then I was crossing the RailRoad tracks and caught my front tire between the tracks and the road. If only I had been looking at the road...and yet, I'm not sure I'd have missed those girls waiving either just to prevenet the wipeout.

 

Distractions happen.

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That's the end of the story RK? It needs a better ending.

 

 

How about: You wiped out and the carload of girls stopped to make sure you were OK. One fell in love with you and you two have been happily married ever since.

 

 

Nice...

I was thinking: You wiped out and the carload of girls stopped to make sure you were OK. Two fell in lust with you and you three have been happy ever since.

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Geo-Caching does not support any type of illegal activity and most roadside memorials are trespassing, bad ideas, dangerous spots, and a total nuisance to everyone. I am starting to think that Geo-Caching needs to be cataogorized so we can eliminate caches as bothersome as this type. I don't want this kind of cache junking up my search log. Don't like the ads on there either. In general I have to skip graveyard caches and consider them disrespectful unless some heavy historical significance applies. It just sets wrong with me!

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That's the end of the story RK? It needs a better ending.

 

How about: You wiped out and the carload of girls stopped to make sure you were OK. One fell in love with you and you two have been happily married ever since.

 

Nice...

 

Reality is...that only happens in the movies. In real life they just laugh and keep on driving. After all their work is done. :laughing:

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That's the end of the story RK? It needs a better ending.

 

How about: You wiped out and the carload of girls stopped to make sure you were OK. One fell in love with you and you two have been happily married ever since.

 

Nice...

 

Reality is...that only happens in the movies. In real life they just laugh and keep on driving. After all their work is done. :ph34r:

 

If your honesty is ever questioned just refer them to this post, only an honest man would have admitted that. :laughing:

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I have a friend who is a traffic cop, and he refers to the roadside shrines as attempts to enshrine stupid people who weren't paying attention while driving.

 

As one of those cops, I never pass a roadside monument without thinking to myself sadly that it's a monument to someone's stupidity. Maybe not necessarily the person who died, but nearly always someone's momentary, chronic or tragic stupidity. A memorial to say "Something stupid happened at this spot". Very sad. Not really something I'd want to draw attention to myself, and certainly not a place I'd choose to spend the limited recreation time I have.

 

 

Congratulations. These are two of the most callous posts I've seen a while. :)

 

Nothing callous about it. Deaths from collisions (note: not accidents) like this are nearly always preventable and invaribably are the result of someone's stupidity. If instead you would care to refer to the cause more politically correctly as inattention, alcohol related, recklessness, driver inexperience, over-correction or excessive speed, that's fine, because it's really the same thing. A moment of stupidity on someone's part results in someone's death, a death that never would have happened otherwise. You'll note that I twice described it as sad. It is.

 

It's not a coincidence that two cops in two different parts of the country independently describe roadside memorials the same. In 17 years I've been to my share of traffic fatalities and grieved for people I don't even know. After seeing these violent deaths in all their intimate detail, you tend to look at it all a bit differently than most folks. When I see a roadside memorial, I know the violence that happened there, the time and energy that a whole lot of cops and EMS people gave and the toll it took on them, and that someone died who shouldn't have. Each one reminds me of all the unneccesary deaths I've seen.

 

Nothing callous about it.

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I have a friend who is a traffic cop, and he refers to the roadside shrines as attempts to enshrine stupid people who weren't paying attention while driving.

 

As one of those cops, I never pass a roadside monument without thinking to myself sadly that it's a monument to someone's stupidity. Maybe not necessarily the person who died, but nearly always someone's momentary, chronic or tragic stupidity. A memorial to say "Something stupid happened at this spot". Very sad. Not really something I'd want to draw attention to myself, and certainly not a place I'd choose to spend the limited recreation time I have.

 

 

Congratulations. These are two of the most callous posts I've seen a while. :)

 

Nothing callous about it. Deaths from collisions (note: not accidents) like this are nearly always preventable and invaribably are the result of someone's stupidity. If instead you would care to refer to the cause more politically correctly as inattention, alcohol related, recklessness, driver inexperience, over-correction or excessive speed, that's fine, because it's really the same thing. A moment of stupidity on someone's part results in someone's death, a death that never would have happened otherwise. You'll note that I twice described it as sad. It is.

 

It's not a coincidence that two cops in two different parts of the country independently describe roadside memorials the same. In 17 years I've been to my share of traffic fatalities and grieved for people I don't even know. After seeing these violent deaths in all their intimate detail, you tend to look at it all a bit differently than most folks. When I see a roadside memorial, I know the violence that happened there, the time and energy that a whole lot of cops and EMS people gave and the toll it took on them, and that someone died who shouldn't have. Each one reminds me of all the unneccesary deaths I've seen.

 

Nothing callous about it.

 

I feel your views of accidents is rather simplistic and a gross generalization. If you are indeed a LEO you know that plenty of innocent people die in accidents that in no way are caused by them. I agree with the above poster in saying that your comments are callous and were probably made just to provoke people. This has nothing to do with PC related issues, just how you relate to your fellow humans.

Edited by rdaines
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I understand your point - although it doesn't translate well to the written forum here.

 

 

You're saying that even if somebody was driving drunk and killed an innocent person, that the act of driving drunk was the stupidity that caused the death in the first place. I get it. It just came across wrong, or I read it wrong.

 

 

Point taken.

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Everything

Personal responsibility is truly the question at hand when it comes to caching anywhere, to include along roads. Conduct a risk assessment, apply appropriate mitigation, and then decide to do it or not. Do you realize that every time you change lanes whilst driving increases your chance of dying by 3%?

 

The risk is not just to cachers, but to other motorists as well. Too often, I have seen people come out into traffic without checking other traffic, or without gaining speed on the shoulder first, where possible. Face it, too many think they are invincible inside thier cars, that it is their own private world. And we all know that personal responsibility ended with the growth of the legal profession in our little "blame someone else" world.

 

We need to place caches considering motorists who think that they are invincible in their vehicles, hence posing a threat to all others? Extrapolate on this logic, and we had better stop placing caches all together!

 

We all know that personal responsibility ended? Yes, the legal system may be askew, but that does not mean we have to accept it. It does not mean we roll over and be subservient like bleating sheep. If we exercise personal responsibility, then we can revive it.

 

What you are posing is that someone's stupidity can and should affect my freedom to place caches.

 

That's not my idea of liberty (nor that of those who framed the U.S. Constitution), and I will fight such an attack on liberty vigorously.

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Saw a news item on NBC-12 in Phoenix that persons unknown have been vandalizing roadside memorials and the local government/police will be investigating. They appear to have a policy of tolerance and will even protect these memorials (using taxpayers dollars). Surely some here will disagree with this policy.

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