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Many pundits have argued that Al Gore (remember him?) lost the presidential election last year, not because the U.S. Supreme Court was desperate to install a Republican to insure that future appointees were the right kind of people, but instead because he adopted a populist theme -- honest hard-working people vs. greedy multinational corporations -- at a time when Americans were eagerly buying stock in those corporations.
Thus populism is obsolete.
There's something to that, in that the Western Populists of 1892 agitated hard for the eight-hour day so that miners could have time with their families. Given an eight-hour day now, the modern American finds a second job.
However, another form of populism appears to be alive
and well in Colorado. Let's call it the Populist
Roadside Historical Marker Program.
Rather than leave it to the experts at the Colorado Historical Society and the Colorado Department of Transportation to determine historically significant events and place informative markers in the appropriate locations, volunteer participants in this program put up their own roadside markers.
These generally take the form of implanted crosses that are adorned with ribbons, stuffed animals, flowers, balloons and the like. They're placed by relatives and friends after someone died in a traffic accident near that spot.
CDOT had been considering some guidelines for the speedy
removal of these roadside roods, along with a reasonable
effort
to return them to the people who put them
up.
But CDOT postponed that effort at roadside sanitation after the proposal came under heavy criticism at a commission meeting on July 26.
A Golden woman whose son was killed in a car crash said
that the roadside memorial cross was a reminder that he
is not forgotten.... We need those reminders to help heal
the huge hole in our hearts.
In modern American, it's probably a felony to disturb anyone's healing process, but her statement raises a question: Do these populist memorials serve any legitimate public purpose?
Obviously, they serve a private purpose -- a purpose also served with a handsome headstone in a graveyard.
As for a public purpose, the Golden woman said these memorials can remind other motorists that they're in a dangerous area where fatal accidents have happened.
And the zone might get even more accident-friendly if drivers are distracted by looking at a festooned cross instead of the oncoming traffic, or if a curious motorist pulls over to examine the memorial in a spot where there really isn't room to pull over.
(I have stopped at a few I've seen, just out of curiosity, and I've never found any useful safety information, or indeed, any information beyond my speculation about the relative deterioration rates of stuffed animals exposed to the elements.)
In other words, the memorials can be a safety hazard if drivers look at them. But if no one pays attention, then what's the point of erecting them along public highways?
That said, CDOT is going to look callous and insensitive if it treats these populist memorials like other roadside litter, and removes them as quickly as possible. On the other hand, CDOT's responsibility should be the safety of the entire public, rather than accommodating the memorial impulses of a small fraction of the public.
There could be a solution, though.
Our shelves already groan under the steadily increasing burden of Colorado guidebooks: historic buildings, hot springs, dog-friendly trails, cycling routes, bed-and-breakfasts, campgrounds, fishing holes, abandoned railroads, brewpubs, etc.
Just why people need so much assistance in exploring our state is beyond me, but the point is that there's a market for any kind of Colorado guidebook.
So CDOT should publish The Official Guide to the
Fatal Highway Accident Sites of Colorado,
which would
list the places, keyed to the mileposts, along with dates
and names.
For a nominal fee (less than the cost of ribbons and teddy bears), relatives and friends who require some public attention in order to facilitate their grieving and healing processes could purchase small advertisements about how much they miss the Dear Departed.
CDOT could also publish these data on its website, linked to those useful Internet sites that produce travel maps, so that curious travelers could get a mile-by-mile listing.
Public safety would be enhanced because these drivers would know the most dangerous stretches. Those who departed this earth too early would be remembered. CDOT would make some money and that could mean lower taxes. Our rights-of-way would be safer and cleaner.
It's that, or else a bitter controversy every time CDOT considers the populist memorials. The choice is obvious.
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