We've all seen them, roadside memorials placed where someones life was extinguished, which have been placed there by family members. Now, Maryland is going to be removing these memorials, saying that they are against the law.
- We've all seen them, roadside memorials placed along various roads where the life of someone was snuffed out due to some kind of accident. In Maryland, these memorials are being
removed by the state, because they are illegal.
Last year, Patty Durant-Turner lost her daughter, Samantha at the junction of 301 and 50. Samantha was on her way home from school when the crash happened. A week later, she put up the memorial to remind her where the accident happened.
"I drive by here a couple times a week and I always look for this spot for my daughter, because this is where she was last alive. To me, this is a holy spot," said, Patty Durant-Turner.
Durant-Turner has been upset since she found a tag near the cross that she'd placed along the side of the highway, letting her know that it is against the law to place these markers along the road, that it would be removed.
"The only thing that's supposed to be on the road are guardrails and highway signs. But that's not what's all over the roads. I say if you're going to take this away from me … then certainly take away all these billboards and so forth, too," Durant-Turner said.
Although officials from the state, understand this is upsetting, they also say that the
laws (opens as a pdf.) are very clear.
"We have to abide by the law, and some of these things end up becoming hazards -- if the mowers hit them, they go and hit motorists. Things like that can really be a challenge. It's heartbreaking, I know. Absolutely," said Valerie Burnette-Edgar of the State Highway Administration.
Maryland To Remove Roadside Memorials
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