Read more: Local, Community, Roadside Memorial, SCDOT, Roadside Memorial Signs, SCDOT to Replace Roadside Memorials
Drive on just about any major road in the Palmetto State, and some not so major ones, and you'll probably see a roadside memorial honoring someone who died in a traffic accident.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation has a plan to replace those memorials with roadside signs in the hopes they'll be safer.
Homemade memorials are often adorned with crosses, dressed with flowers and pictures of loved ones remembered, and carrying words to ease the pain of an event a family will never forget.
In Ken and Debra Norris' case, it was their daughter Desiree. "I would like to keep the cross there," Norris said, "but if this would better, for safety issues, I'm fine with it if that's what we have to do."
But Desiree's father, Ken, isn't sure a road sign is the way to go. "Having that street sign there, some people don't pay attention to street signs. They pay more attention to seeing a cross there and it makes people think, should I take that chance or shouldn't I take that chance?"
Tony Sheppard, Director of Traffic Engineering at SCDOT said, "You've got the issue of these people out working or placing these memorials on the side of the highway that are not normal to be in that type of environment. Sometimes they can be placed in an area where they can obstruct a sight visibility, where a motorist is trying to pull out from a stop sign or because of a weather event or something they get blown into the roadway."
Sheppard adds the new signs will be easier to see, with the name of the person being memorialized in plain sight. But they will come at a price... $250.
"It just seems like we have to pay for something that we lost, and we have to pay for it all over again just to have something there reminding people that these intersections are dangerous," said Ken.
The new signs are not mandatory yet. SCDOT officials say they're still working out the details of how they'll transition to the signs.
Starting August 9th the SCDOT is accepting applications for the signs.
Completed applications should be mailed to the following address:
SCDOT
Attn: Roadside Memorials
PO Box 191
Columbia SC 29202-0191
